


Cherry and Friends Meet the Super Mario Bros

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Super Mario Bros. (1993)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27792865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: As said in the title, Cherry and her friends embark on a new adventure in New York. There, they meet a pair of plumber brothers named Mario and Luigi as they suddenly get called away on a brand new adventure into a brand new place called The Mushroom Kingdom after the girl of Luigi's dreams, Daisy, is taken away and they must go and save her in the strange new land far from home.
Relationships: Mario/Peach-hime | Peach Toadstool, Princess Daisy/Luigi





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, paisanos! PerkyGoth14 here with another new adventure story. Ah, yes, The Super Mario Bros. movie... Some of you probably saw this coming and some probably didn't and some probably don't even care. We might as well grin and bear it and get it over with and I'll see you around throughout the publication of the story since I'm running far behind upload schedule due to my two week hiatus with a certain collab partner of mine, but I'll spare you the drama.

**_Voice Cast:_ **

**_H. Jon Benjamin: Mario Marchelli_ **

**_Jason Marsden: Luigi Marchelli_ **

**_Jodi Benson: Princess Elizabeth Patricia "Peach" Toadstool_ **

**_Kath Soucie: Princess Daisy Flora, Cherry_ **

**_Matt Hill: Yoshi_ **

**_Max Charles: Atticus_ **

**_Dean Stockwell: King Henry Christopher Toadstool/Natlow_ **

**_Scott Innes: Toad_ **

**_Kate Micucci: Toadette_ **

**_Jim Cummings: King Bowser Koopa_ **

**_Michael Bell: Kamek_ **

**_Barry Gordon: Mugger_ **

**_Curtis Armstrong: Lionel_ **

**_Jason Harris: Patch_ **

**_Tara Strong: Two-Tone_ **

**_Zach T. Eisen: Furrball_ **

**_Jessie Flower: Monique "Mo"_ **

**_Sean Ryan Fox: Thor_ **

**_... & Jon Lovitz as Drell!_ **

**_Additional voices: Tony Anselmo, Ben Schwartz, Danny Pudi, Bobby Moynihan, & Kyle Hebert_ **

* * *

It was a rainy afternoon, so this week, our usual group was spending it at Donald Duck's house with his nephews, as well as Bubba and Webby. At the moment, Lionel was reading through a letter he'd gotten from Mike Mazinsky.

"Living, breathing gargoyles in modern-day Manhattan... Here I thought I'd seen almost everything!" Lionel remarked. "It's an exciting tale for certain... Too bad it's another story that's yet to be written!" he remarked to the readers.

"What's going on now?" Cherry asked.

"Letter from Mike." Atticus replied.

"Ah, yes," Cherry nodded. "The rough and tough tomboy who lived on a desert island for a year."

"Apparently she, Lu, and Og met this clan of gargoyles," Lionel replied. "Who'd have expected THAT, huh?"

"It is pretty crazy..." Atticus nodded. "Any pictures?"

"Yeah, a couple right here." Lionel said, showing from the letter.

The group gathered around to see Mike, Lu, and Og handing around the gargoyles known as The Manhattan Clan which included Goliath, Hudson, Lexington, Brooklyn, Broadway, and Angela.

"What a crazy adventure out of town," Webby said before pouting. "How come WE never get to go anywhere?"

"What're you talking about? We've been places!" Cherry defended.

"I mean on purpose," said Webby. "Nowadays, most of our adventures happen on accident or by Huey, Louie, and Dewey getting into some form of mischief."

The triplet boys grinned at each other bashfully.

"Well, sometimes you just gotta explore and find an adventure," Cherry replied. "Adventure doesn't always just show up and come knocking on your door."

"Hmph... It'd be nice to have an adventure," Webby firmly pouted. "I'd do anything for some excitement in my life."

"Eventually, Webby, eventually," Mo soothed. "You'll get to see the world soon enough."

"I wonder if we've got anything for today," Lionel replied. "It'd sure liven up an otherwise dull situation."

"Tell me about it." Webby agreed.

"Hey, guys, I just say ya need to chill and maybe play some video games," Huey suggested with a smirk. "That always calms me down."

"Video games instead of doing homework and chores always calms you down," Cherry scoffed. "Then your Uncle Donald finds out and you nearly get grounded cuz you behave like that Johnny Test kid who hangs around his dog all the time."

Atticus and Patch looked over.

"No offense, guys." Cherry then said sheepishly.

"Whatever." Huey shrugged and soon crashed into a crimson beanbag chair and decided to hook up one of the game consoles and mashed the buttons on the controllers.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"I got it," Mo said as she got up and went to the door. When she opened it, Drell was there with an umbrella over his head.

"Good news~" The warlock smirked. "You're all going to New York."

"New York?" Cherry asked. "Haven't we been there already?"

"Maybe so, but it's a whole new experience!" Thor beamed as he came inside with his uncle.

"All right, let's get this over with..." Cherry rolled her eyes. "Are you gonna tell us why we're going or is this one of those you're gonna tell us on the way things?"

"Eh, I'll just tell you while you're getting packed up," Drell replied. "Speaking of which... Get your things, get in your van. I'll tell you once we hit the road."

The group looked at each other before looking back.

"Come on, guys," Thor smiled. "Join the fun."

"Hey, you guys want in on this?" Cherry asked Huey, Dewey, and Louie as they went to get hooked up with the video game.

"Uh... Maybe later...?" The triplets grinned bashfully.

"Cheese and crackers..." Cherry rolled her eyes in annoyance before looking at Bubba and Webby. "How about you guys?"

"Hmm... Maybe," Bubba shrugged. "As long as it's not too many characters to focus on."

"Either way, come into the van right now," Drell narrowed his eyes. "It's very cold and wet out here and I'd like to send you off on a brand new adventure without catching a cold!"

"Last chance, boys." Cherry said to the triplets.

Huey, Dewey, and Louie were too focused on their game to even properly answer her question.

"We better keep an eye on them," Webby said to Cherry and the others. "Is that okay?"

"Sure, I guess," Cherry shrugged. "Webby? Bubba? You're in charge."

The group then left the house and went to go away on a brand new adventure while Webby scoffed and rolled her eyes at the boys' behavior.

"This is gonna be fun, guys," Thor beamed. "You'll see~"

"I guess we'll see for ourselves." Lionel shrugged.

The soon came into the van as Drell shook his umbrella a bit before coming into the driver's seat.

"You guys excited and ready for a brand new adventure?" Thor asked his friends.

The group let out a flat and deadpan "Yaaaay".

"Okay, even I can tell that was sarcastic." Thor said to his friends flatly.

The van soon rode off as Donald came downstairs to see the kids.

"Did Cherry and the others just leave?" Donald asked.

"Yep." The ducklings replied.

"Kids..." Donald shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Looks like I'll have to find you some part-time jobs to do when you're not in school. At least Cherry and the others know how to keep busy in a more productive way!"

"D'oh!" Huey, Dewey, and Louie gulped nervously while Webby and Bubba seemed to smirk.

* * *

And so, the group kept on driving.

"So what's the big deal in NY?" asked Atticus.

"You all are gonna go help a pair of paisanos in the plumbing business," replied Drell. "One wears red, the other wears green."

"Plumbing?" Cherry asked. "Aw, come on, Drell! Really?"

"Yes, Cherry, really." Drell replied.

"Well, this is gonna be a bit gross." Cherry groaned as she crossed her arms.

"We'll see about that." Drell sneered smugly as they stopped near a truck that read "MARICHELLI BROS. ACE PLUMBING".

Outside was a stout man in a pair of dirty red overalls and a blue shirt, getting something out of the truck. When he got out, it was clearer that he had a black handlebar mustache and a red cap with a big red M on the front.

"So are those our plumbers, Uncle?" Thor asked as he took a look out.

"Yep," Drell replied. "That would be Mario Marichelli, getting some stuff to finish a job."

"How exciting..." Cherry snarked as she rolled her eyes.

"Hey now, this is serious!" Drell scolded.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Cherry shrugged. "I just don't think visiting some old plumber is my idea of a grand and epic new adventure."

"Aw, come on, Cherry," Atticus smiled. "Keep an open mind."

"Besides, this is just the start," Lionel replied. "If everything started out exciting, then how would it keep up later on?"

* * *

Mario went back into the apartment; a while later, he came out, accompanied by a lanky, tall plumber clad in green overalls and cap. But Mario was fuming.

"That's his brother, Luigi," Drell explained.

"I leave you alone for 10 minutes, 10 minutes, and look what happens!" Mario fumed. "You turn a one-hour job into a _three_ -hour job! And we end up losin' money. How d'ya expect us to stay in business when you-" Turning, he then noticed that Luigi wasn't next to him. His brother had apparently stopped to give money to a homeless beggar. "What are you doing, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he then shouted. "We're going broke and you give away money to a PANHANDLER?!"

"Shh... You could hurt his feelings." Luigi told him.

"I prefer the title 'Vice President of Curbside Collections'." The bum said in a lofty manner before moving on.

Mario just looked on, hateful, as Luigi started off in the opposite direction. "Where're you going?" he then asked.

"To see Daisy," Luigi replied, lovingly. He patted his pocket, realizing he was broke. "I should get her something; can you lend me 10 bucks?"

The only response Luigi got was a wrench that narrowly missed his head.

"Ouch." Atticus winced.

"At least he missed it." Cherry remarked.

"You kids have a lot to learn," Drell said. "Hopefully you can help out Mario and Luigi."

"So... Can I have the $10?" Luigi asked.

"NO!" Mario yelled at him as he stormed off.

Luigi shrugged and strolled off down the street, a spring in his step. The group watched him go.

"Huh?" Luigi blinked as he stepped back and looked at them.

"Uh, hey." Atticus said.

"Who... Who are you?" Luigi asked them.

The group soon introduced themselves since he already saw them.

"Huh... Can't say I've seen you around the city before..." Luigi said to them. "You must be new or something. Just hope not from Jersey." he then added with a small, joking smirk.

"We saw what happened back there," said Thor. "You okay?"

"Sure," Luigi replied. "Mario's a good guy... Just a little gruff, is all."

"Some people say the same thing about my uncle." Thor smiled.

"Yeah... Well... I gotta get goin'," Luigi shrugged. "I just hope Daisy's not mad."

"Daisy, huh?" Cherry asked. "I'm gonna guess that's either your sister or girlfriend."

"Girlfriend..." Luigi smiled hopefully. "Maybe old Mario will settle down a little if he had a lady friend of his own."

"A lady with _that_ guy?" Mo remarked. "Eh, maybe."

"I like Daisy," Luigi replied. "Since Mom and Dad croaked, she's one of the bright spots in my life!"

"Ooh..." Atticus winced. "Sorry about your loss."

"It's okay." Luigi shrugged.

"Well, at least you found someone special," Cherry said to Luigi. "Once upon a time ago, I used to think romance was for the weak-minded and it was a waste of time and a deadly game."

"Luckily she was wro~ng!" Lionel chuckled.

"I'd love to chat with you guys some more," said Luigi. "But I better go! Daisy is probably waiting for me!"

"Then go, man, go!" Thor told him as he took off.

"Nice meeting ya guys!" Luigi called out on the way.

"Nice kid," Cherry commented. "Maybe this won't be so bad."

"See?" Thor smirked.

"We could probably observe how this plays out, ya know?" Lionel asked. "Keep tabs on Luigi... Well, either that or get some lunch."

The horn on the van soon honked.

"Have fun, kids!" Drell grinned and waved with a light chuckle.

"See ya..." Cherry rolled her eyes as everybody else waved goodbye to the warlock.

"Guess we're following Luigi then." Lionel shrugged, and so the group headed around the block to the flower shop Luigi was headed to.

The group also shrugged as they followed behind.

* * *

There was a young woman around Luigi's age who was watering the flowers and plants with a spray gun hose. She was ethereally beautiful, with sparkling green eyes and golden brunette hair that nearly matched her yellow and orange outfit: the look of a storybook princess, but this princess was raised in Brooklyn, which naturally had ingrained lots of attitude in her. She's sweet, but she's full of spunk. A man in gold chains galore soon tried to come in on this young woman he had a very deep interest in.

"No, Vinnie," The brunette glowered. "Get it through your head, I'm not going out with you."

"What's the problem, Princess?" The man, named Vinnie, smirked at her hopefully. "Didn't we have fun together?"

"We went out once. I gave you a black eye," The brunette scoffed. "Doesn't THAT tell you something?"

"So maybe we oughta give it another shot?" Vinnie grinned as he continued.

"I'll give _you_ another shot if you don't get out of here." The brunette warned, holding her spray gun close towards him as his final warning.

"Hey, I'm not moving until you tell me you're going out with me," Vinnie retorted. "Whattaya say to that?"

Vinnie was now soaking wet as he stormed out of the store, muttering swears to himself.

"Looks like someone just got dumped." Cherry smirked.

"Cherry..." Atticus scolded a bit.

"Atticus..." Cherry rolled her eyes with the same tone of voice, though not as sincere.

Luigi tidied up his hair as he headed in through the front door. Holding something behind his back, he entered, finding Daisy's back turned. "Daisy..." he spoke up.

The hot-blooded Brooklyn girl turned around. "Luigi!" she smiled. "Hi!"

"Daisy, I've got something to say to you," Luigi stated, although he noticed that Daisy's hair had a more reddish tint to it. "I-"

"Yes?" Daisy asked, as if waiting eagerly.

The group watched Luigi, though they tried to do it in a way that wasn't creepy.

"I love the skillful way you beat the other girls to the bride's bouquet." Cherry smirked to herself.

The others just looked confused while she stuck her tongue out at them.

Another clerk was shown to be eagerly waiting at the counter like she was hopeful for Luigi and Daisy as much as Cherry and her friends were.

"I... Got you these..." Luigi soon said, showing a bouquet of flowers that shared the name of the girl he was crazy about.

The other clerk rolled her eyes while the group groaned a bit in dismay for Luigi.

"They're beautiful, Lugii," Daisy smiled. "That's so sweet of you."

"Well, it's better than nothing." Atticus shrugged at the others.

Just then, a grumpy, gray-haired man angrily came from the back of the store, carrying a flower arrangement. "Is THIS the arrangement you did for the Ciccarelli wedding?" he asked.

Luigi looked at Daisy in amazement. "Wow... You did this?" he asked. "What're these?"

"Wow... That's a very pretty arrangement." Mo smiled.

"It sure is." Atticus nodded in agreement.

"They're anthuriums at $5 a stem, that's what they are!" The man nearly barked. "The Ciccarelli wedding was our $89 economy deal. That means carnations and lots of baby's breath!"

"But, Mr. Fielding, I just wanted to make it a little special." Daisy defended to her boss.

"For 89 bucks, you don't get special," The man, Mr. Fielding, retorted while the group began to look angry towards him. "You get carnations and baby's breath!"

"Excuse me, Mr. Fielding, what Daisy is trying to say, I think, is that when two people fall in love and decide to make a lifetime commitment... It's like the launching a ship on the sea of matrimony." Luigi defended, giving a shy look over to Daisy.

Mr. Fielding began to stare at Luigi like he was nuts.

"Now, you don't wanna launch that ship with just a cheap bottle of wine," Luigi then continued. "No, you wanna smash a fine champagne across its bow. And who cares what it costs, Mr. Fielding? Because there's some things you just can't put a price on," he then looked over at Daisy. "That's what you meant, right?" he asked her.

"Uh, yeah. Uh-huh." Daisy nodded.

"You are a mental case!" Mr. Fielding scowled as he soon took the arrangement and marched into the back.

"Sheesh, what's up his butt?" Cherry rolled her eyes.

"That was wonderful." Daisy replied to Luigi.

Luigi shrugged, like it was no big deal. "Well, I guess I'd better get back to work. Maybe we can have lunch tomorrow?"

"Yeah, terrific," Daisy smiled. "I'd like that."

The group looked hopeful and excited for Luigi then.

"Okay, I'll see ya." Lugii said softly.

"Okay, bye," Daisy smiled. "Thanks for the flowers."

Luigi nodded his head and headed out the door.

* * *

"Congratulations, Luigi," Atticus smiled. "It's a magical feeling, isn't it?"

"You have no idea, buddy." Luigi chuckled.

"Not sure if you'd be able to fit into our place," he continued. "It's very cramped, y'know?"

"Oh, don't worry, we'll get out of your hair," Cherry said. "Surely there's a hotel or something we can stay in until we meet again."

"Sure, couple blocks down," Luigi told them. "You kids take care, alright? Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to tell Daisy I love her..."

"We wish you luck either way." Atticus smiled.

Patch soon barked in agreement.

"Man, you guys seem like real pals," Luigi smiled back. "I sure could use some friends in a boring place like this."

"Well... Consider us friends." Lionel replied.

Luigi beamed. "Really? Thanks!" he exclaimed as he went on his way home.

"Well, that was nice," Thor smiled at the others. "We really made his day."

"Yeah, we sure did," Patch added. "Now I guess we better get settled."

The group soon made it to a hotel and decided to stay over for the time being as it was starting to get dark outside.

"So, we're helping plumbers..." Cherry said as she stared out the window. "I'm glad Luigi was able to get a lunch date with that Daisy girl, but what else is there really?"

"You know how adventures go," Atticus reminded. "They develop and go off as time passes by. That was probably the easy part of the adventure though."

"Aye; calm before the storm," Lionel agreed. "You know how it is."

* * *

**_BACK AT THE MARICHELLI APARTMENT..._ **

A morose Luigi sat at the kitchen table, picking at his plateful of pasta. Mario was sitting opposite from him, devouring his plate while reading a book titled **"AVOIDING BANKRUPTCY"**.

"Why couldn't I tell her?" Luigi groaned. "...Why?"

"Because..." Mario replied, amidst slurps of pasta. "Your 8 brain cells finally joined hands and did something right. You're better off, like I said..."

"I KNOW what you said, Mario," Luigi spat, his voice rising in anger. "Just because you got hurt once by a woman-"

Mario shot a piercing glare at his brother. "You mean Pauline, right? Why don't we say her name? Pauline. I can say it. She doesn't mean anything to me anymore," he remarked. "I've forgotten how three days before our wedding, she RAN OFF WITH OUR COUSIN ROCCO! ...I'm over it."

"Good... Dr. Joyce Brothers says we all, gotta, ya know, move on." Luigi advised.

"Maybe you should take her advice, Luigi. Move on," Mario nodded. "Then I could have all this luxury apartment all to myself."

"...You afraid of that?" Luigi asked, playing with his spaghetti a little.

"Afraid of _what_?" Mario nearly spit in his words.

"You know, if I get married someday and move out," Luigi explained. "You'll be alone."

"Are you nuts?" Mario scoffed. "When Ma died, she made me promise to take care of you. You think it's fun playin' nursemaid for 15 years? Maybe when you get outta here, I can have a life." he then added as he took his plate over to the sink and suddenly felt regret in what he just said.

Luigi appeared to be hurt as he sat by himself then.

"Ah, mangia..." Mario groaned.

"...I like it _with_ mushrooms." Luigi then said lightly.

"Hey, I had to make a few financial cutbacks," Mario retorted. "In case ya haven't noticed, we're not exactly in the best financial shape here. An' if I don't come up with some cash soon, I can say arrivederci to my kneecaps."

"I toldja not to borrow money from those men." said Luigi.

"Hey, I'll make the business decisions," Mario replied. "It was either Big Eddie or Chapter 11."

Luigi took his plate to the sink. "I'll be outside." he told his brother.

"Put on a sweater," Mario told him. "Last thing I need is you catchin' a cold."

Luigi couldn't help but smile; in his own gruff way, Mario _did_ care about him. It was lightly raining outside as the group got settled into their hotel and ordered some pizza.

* * *

Patch looked out the window with a lot on his mind as he looked up at the stars.

"You still worried about Luigi, Spot?" Cherry asked.

"Well... Maybe a little bit," Patch replied. "I'm a dog... It's in my nature to sympathize with people I happen to find friendly and likable."

"All right, but don't stay up too late," Cherry said. "Especially with that old Twilight Bark of yours."

"Don't worry, Cherry, I won't do that." Patch rolled his eyes a little.

"Good." Cherry replied as she sat on one of the beds.

Patch nodded as he kept looking outside the window.

"Do you see anyone out there?" Cherry asked.

"Yeah, I think I see our new friend," Patch replied. "He must be thinking about that Daisy girl."

"Well, at least this Daisy seems nicer and cooler than another Daisy in my life." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"Yep," Lionel nodded in agreement. "Hopefully things go well for Luigi. Besides, love ain't easy... But it's worth it."

"It's the power of love." Cherry quoted.

Eventually, the group's pizza arrived so they took it inside and they began to eat it up while watching a movie that was on TV that night.


	2. Chapter 2

**_THE NEXT DAY..._ **

Luigi was taking a stroll down the street when he saw two goons loitering nearby. He tried to side-step them, but they just stepped back into his path.

"Mr. Delpino's got a question," said one goon. "He'd like to know when you and your brother are gonna start meeting your, uh, loan commitments."

Another goon shoved Luigi from behind. "Yeah, when?"

"Hey! You leave him alone!" Mario glared as he shoon shoved the two goons down away from Luigi, though he wore a fancy polyester suit and carried a valise. "You don't touch my brother! You got a problem, you deal with _me_!"

"Okay, we'll deal with you." The first goon challenged.

The two goons soon suddenly swarmed in on Mario, showing that these were very dangerous streets.

A black car soon pulled up to the side to show someone who witnessed the crime. "Mario? A little trouble here?" he then asked the thicker plumber.

"Whoa! Hey! Mr. Delphino!" Mario greeted. "How ya doin'? I was gonna call you... Got a big job coming up. I should be able to start payin' you off real soon."

The group hung out, starting their new day before they glanced over to see something happening between Mario and Luigi. 

Big Eddie motioned to his goons to get into the car. "You know I'm counting on that, Mario." he told the plumber as the window lifted up, and the car drove away.

"You okay?" asked Mario.

Luigi nodded. "I toldja not to borrow money from--"

"Shut up, Luigi," Mario told him. "Just... Shut up."

The group was shown to be on the streets before looking at each other.

"It's probably none of our business." Cherry said.

"So just stay out of it?" Atticus asked.

"Exactly," Cherry replied. "It'll be less trouble that way."

Atticus still felt determined and helpful as always.

Cherry rolled her eyes. "You wanna get in trouble? Be my guest." she then told him.

"We were asked to help," Atticus reminded as he went to go after the plumbers. "They sure look like they could use it."

* * *

At the Department of Water & Power, Mario headed into the main lobby. 

A dour receptionist looked up from her magazine, recognizing him from his previous visits. "He's busy," she told him. "And you don't have an appointment."

"Sez who?" Mario retorted as he made his way into the door marked CITY ENGINEER.

The Chief Engineer known as Ed Farley appeared to be having a bit of a golf game in his office before he soon glanced up and over at Mario, frowning firmly.

"My revised plans." Mario said as he dumped a stack of blueprints from his valise on the other man's desk.

Farley simply went back to his golf game, ignoring Mario.

"Look, Farley, I'm sick of getting the run-around from you," Mario continued to speak. "Just look at these plans and give me the okay. Okay?"

"Mario... Mario..." Farley rolled his eyes a bit as he swung his ball into the cup while he spoke. "I can tell from here they're not going to work."

"What're you trying to do? Ruin me?" Mario glared. "I got a $10,000 reprofit job waiting on these plans. I don't deliver and I'm out of my business!"

"You know, Mario, the thing about golf is... If you wanna play the game, you haveta pay the right 'green fees', if ya know what I mean." Farley retorted strongly.

Mario soon paused and began to consider this. "Yeah... I know what ya mean." he then said.

Farley smiled and nodded and soon began to putt the ball, thinking that was over and done with now.

"But I don't do that kinda business, Farley!" Mario then angrily countered as he stepped in the way angrily, kicking the ball aside. "I don't pay bribes in this country. This is the US or A! This is America!"

"No, Mario. This is _Brooklyn_ ," Farley retorted. "Now get out of here."

Mario soon grabbed his papers from the other man's desk and stalked out the door.

"And don't come back until you're ready to cooperate... Ya greaseball shrimp." Farley seethed as Mario was on his way out the door.

Mario's hand came to a halt, inches from the doorknob. "'Scuze me... You call me sumthin'?" he asked, his quiet fury making itself known.

"What, greaseball?" asked Farley.

"No... The other thing." Mario replied.

* * *

**_A FEW MINUTES LATER..._ **

A golf ball sailed out the window, breaking it, followed by Farley's $2,000 ostrich-skin golf bag and graphite-shaft clubs, which crashed through the glass on the way down.

"I can tell that that went well." Cherry snarked.

"Why don't we go visit Luigi?" Atticus suggested.

The others nodded as they then walked off to find Luigi, hoping he was in a bit of a better mood, especially with what happened between him and Daisy.

* * *

Luigi was shown to be balancing an empty soda bottle on his nose which proved to be entertaining to the kids in the neighborhood before it then fell and he caught it instantly. "Whoa! Don't wanna break this," he then said to them. "A genie coulda lived in here."

The kids then cheered and even hooted in amazement.

"Okay, okay, wait, storytime," Luigi said to the kids before looking over. "Oh, hello."

The kids then looked over to see the visiting group.

"Don't mind us, we just thought we'd come visit again." Cherry said.

"Great! You're just in time for a little tale I like ta call _'The Fisherman & The Genie'_," Luigi smiled. "There once was this poor fisherman out in the ocean, in this little boat. He throws his net out, and catches this old bottle. Not _this_ one, similar. Hadda screwtop. Anyways, he opens it and out comes this big cloud, and it turns into a genie."

"Does the genie make 'im rich?" asked one boy.

"Nah, nah," Luigi replied. " _This_ genie wants to _kill_ the fisherman. Know why? Genie sez, "when I first got stuck in here, I said 'whoever frees me, I'll give 'em a bazillion dollars!' But a whole century passes, and nobody comes. So this time the genie says, 'whoever releases me now, I'll give 'em season seats to the Knicks'!"

"Wow! Season seats!" One of the kids cheered.

The group felt curious and a little confused, but decided to just sit and listen to the story with the neighborhood kids.

"And parking too, but still, nobody found the bottle," Luigi soon continued. "Now the genie is PO'd. So he says 'First guy I see when I get outta here'," he then began to say as he punched his fist into his palm. "'BAM! To the moon, Alice! And that means _you_ , fisherman'. But the poor little fisherman; he's smart, he plays an angle. He says 'I don't believe you're really a genie. You're _too_ big to fit in that little bottle'. 'Oh, yeah?' says the genie. 'I'll prove it to ya'!"

"Man, this is getting intense." Thor said as he took out a random bucket of popcorn and began to eat it up.

"So the genie shrunk down and went back into the bottle," Luigi soon continued. "And the fisherman screwed the top back on and threw it back into the sea. So what's it all mean?"

The kids just looked back at him blankly as they weren't sure what this meant.

"It means, no matter how big, how powerful the guy..." Luigi explained before tapping his temple. "You can _always_ beat him with this."

"Brains beats Brawns every time." Cherry advised.

Lionel nodded with a smile.

"Only in fairy tales, kids," Mario said gruffly. It became clear that he had been standing nearby and listening. "Not in real life... Not in Brooklyn."

The kids looked from Mario and Luigi, not sure who to believe. Just then, a vendor came along, pushing an ice cream cart.

"...Ices on me!" Luigi announced. 

The children cheered and ran to the cart.

"That sounds very nice." Cherry said.

"We'll get some ice cream too," Atticus added before looking down at Patch. "Hold the chocolate."

"I hate ice cream whenever chocolate's invovled." Patch groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Mario, how'd it go?" Luigi soon asked. "You get the okay?"

"Just a few minor details to work out." Mario sighed as he sat heavily on the stoop.

"Hey, I got some good news too," Luigi smiled, sounding very proud and excited. "I got us a job."

"What kind of a job?" Mario asked suspiciously.

"I thought you guys already had jobs?" Cherry replied as she got a cookie dough ice cream cone.

"He means like a gig." Lionel replied, holding a French Vanilla ice cream cone.

"Well, that might be fun, I suppose." Cherry shrugged.

"Better than nothing." Atticus said, giving Patch his own ice cream cone which was vanilla.

Patch beamed as he happily licked up the ice cream since he was allowed to eat it and it wasn't chocolate.

"This should be good at least." Mo shrugged as she had soy bean vanilla.

"Just you wait, it's gonna be great." Luigi nodded.

"We'll check it out too," Atticus replied. "That is, if you don't mind our company."

"Well, I definitely don't." Luigi defended.

"So you bid this at our usual rate?" Mario asked.

"Uh, no. A little under." Luigi replied.

"...How _much_ under?" Mario questioned as the van stopped in front of a church.

"Well, we're here!" Luigi announced.

"How. Much. Under?" Mario asked again.

Luigi winced nervously. "...Free?" he asked, hesitant.

"Uh-oh." The group muttered, expecting for Mario to sort of "blow up".

Mario and Luigi soon came to the church, carrying their tools as Mario was about as red as his clothing.

"But the sister said it was just a little drip." Luigi said bashfully.

"I'm not in the charity business, Luigi," Mario replied firmly as he clanged down the knocker on the door. "I don't care if it's St. Catherine's! They want me to do a job, they're gonna _pay_ for the job! I'm cuttin' no freebie deals!"

"Easy, Mario..." Cherry said.

"No! He needs to hear this!" Mario hissed as he continued on. "Sister or no sister, I'm lookin' her right in the face and tellin' her--"

"Hello... You must be the new plumbers." A young woman's voice greeted at the door, interrupting Mario's rant.

Mario's stern tone dissolved. "...So I hear you got a little drip there, Sister." he chuckled sheepishly.

The group moved in a bit to see the nun who greeted Mario as she looked very young and beautiful.

The woman smiled and soon let the others come inside.

"We're just here to observe," Thor said to the woman. "Thanks for having us... Uh... Miss."

"Come along then," The nun smiled angelically. "We appreciate this."

The group smiled back while Mario and Luigi went to go in and get to work. They soon found the drip which became a massive puddle that was spreading and would get worse if not properly looked after.

"Holy Mother of God... These pipes gotta be a million years old..." Mario groaned before looking at Luigi. "Whatever you do, _don't_ break anything!"

Cherry soon found a plate of some crackers and took one to eat before grunting. "Bwah! That's drier than a bone..." she then grunted.

* * *

A bit later, Mario was up on a ladder amidst a jungle of pipes, looking for the leak with a flashlight. Luigi held the wobbly ladder for him.

"Hold it still," Mario told his brother as he kept on looking. "Found it; right near the sewer line. Okay, simple patch job an' we're outta here!"

The flashlight then suddenly went out.

"Uh-oh." Patch frowned as he stood with the others.

"Gimme your flashlight," Mario told Luigi. "Mine's dead."

"Uh... Can one of you hand me that?" Luigi asked as he held onto the ladder as he couldn't reach his flashlight as it was far and deep in the tool chest. "I can't let go of the ladder for Mario."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure," Atticus smiled as he handed the flashlight over. "Aren't you glad we came along? Another crisis averted."

The sewer pipe immediately burst open, and Mario stumbled over as ugly, brackish fluid shot from the pipe. Mario fell into a now knee-deep puddle of water and got to his feet, sputtering.

"Everything alright down there?" The nun called.

"Uh... You don't have that little drip anymore, Sister!" Luigi replied.

"Tell 'er we also installed a swimming pool, free of charge..." Mario sputtered, wiping his face off.

"Nice." Atticus rolled his eyes.

Luigi soon found something glowing under the water and went to pick it up. The others groaned and shivered from the water, feeling disgusted and cold.

"Guys... Look..." Luigi said as he picked something up out of the water which was a ruby locket.

"Oh... It's a locket..." Cherry remarked. "I wonder whose it could had been?"

"Maybe a princess." Thor gasped.

Cherry gave him a deadpan look.

"Just trying to keep things light and mysterious." Thor shrugged in defense.

"Must've been stuck in the pipe for years," Mario commented. "Wonder if it's legit?"

"It's... The locket in my dream..." Luigi said as he was mesmerized by the locket. "Mario, it's the one! It's the same one!"

"Hey! This could get us out of hock!" Mario exclaimed. "We clean up this mess, then we find out what this baby's worth."

"Then I guess we gotta visit either a pawn shop or a jewelry store." Cherry suggested.

* * *

Later, at the local jewelry shop, the jeweler tried to get the locket open with a pick, but it stayed shut. "It won't budge." he told Mario.

"Never mind that, what about the stone there?" Mario asked.

The jeweler inspected the ruby. "I've never seen a finer ruby in my life. It's flawless! Where'd you find it?"

"Uh... I found it." replied Mario.

The jeweler eyed Mario suspiciously. "...Get out of here before I call the cops." he told him.

Mario got back into the van, where Luigi and the others waited.

"So? What'cha get for it?" Luigi asked.

"...I didn't like his offer." Mario replied.

"Well, that's a bit of a bummer." Cherry remarked.

"Mario, we can't sell it," Luigi soon said. "I can't explain, but for some reason, I know we were meant to find it."

"I guess that's what this adventure is about." Thor whispered to the others.

"That's probably our best bet." Patch whispered back.

"Damn right we were meant to find it!" Mario told Luigi as he then put the locket in a small drawstring bag and slipped it in the pocket of his overalls. "This is the one thing that's gonna keep us alive past tomorrow."

Luigi looked at him as they soon went away from the jewelry store.

"Maybe that locket takes them to the Mushroom Kingdom?" Thor suggested to the others bashfully. "Just saying... Uncle wouldn't send us here for no reason."

"Could be," Lionel shrugged. "But we'll have to wait and watch."

"Still... I wanna keep an open mind." Thor smiled innocently.

"So, Luigi, how's Daisy?" Cherry asked.

"Working on it," Luigi replied bashfully. "I might go see her later."

"And I might see her too to maybe put in a good word for you," Cherry smirked. "You seem like a nice guy, so I'd hate to see you get hurt... I take care of my friends."

"Thanks." Luigi smiled at her.

"I do what I can." Cherry shrugged innocently.

"You're gonna spy on Daisy?" Atticus asked his friend.

"Well, when you say it like that, you make it sound like a bad thing," Cherry rolled her eyes. "Just let a girl handle this~"

"All right, all right." Atticus shrugged.

"Good luck with whatever it is you're planning," Lionel told her. "And stay on your toes."

"No worries..." Cherry replied.

* * *

Eventually, a cat was shown to be wandering around down the streets, coming towards the flower shop before a puff of smoke appeared and disappeared to show Cherry as she tried to whistle innocently, but couldn't whistle, and soon went to go and visit the shop.

"Hello! Can I help you find anything?" Daisy smiled.

"I'm just looking," Cherry replied innocently. "Though... Speaking of looking... You know Luigi?"

"Of course I do," Daisy giggled. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, he seems like a nice guy," Cherry replied. "You might wanna try and at least spend some time with him... I mean, I love spending time with very special friends... Like Lionel... Sometimes we rent cheesy and terrible movies on purpose just to make fun of them like this one where there's a shark and a tornado... I just have a lot of fun doing stuff with him... Ya know?"

"Mm-hmm..." Daisy nodded as she got some flowers out of the cooler before gasping.

"And--" Cherry was about to add before flinching to see a bit of a stiff and wooden man who seemed to come from nowhere. "Whoa! What the...?"

"Did I startle you?" The man asked.

"Jeez... You're like a zombie or something..." Cherry groaned as she put her hand on her chest.

"It's okay," Daisy added as she caught her breath. "I'm a little jumpy since I switched to decaf." she then laughed, trying to make a joke.

The man didn't seem to understand at first before he soon laughed too, but it sounded very stiff and robotic.

"Must be an alien invader from the Planet Wiseau." Cherry snarked to herself.

"Can I help you, sir?" Daisy asked the stranger.

"I am looking for a woman," The man replied. "Daisy Flora."

"You from the lottery?"

"No."

"Never heard of her."

Cherry rolled her eyes with a small smirk, though she had a bad feeling about this odd stranger man.

" _You_ are Daisy Flora..." The man realized as he examined the brunette.

"Okay, okay, look, if it's about those library books--" Daisy began to explain nervously.

"You were left at St. Catherine's Church as a baby," The man interrupted. "You have a birthmark on your left arm. Behind the elbow."

"Ooookay?" Cherry slowly blinked.

"Look, what do you want, Mr--" Daisy began to glare.

"Koopa," The man informed. "What I want to do is take you away from here."

"Really? That's great!" Daisy replied as Cherry watched them, though she had a very bad feeling about all of this. "I've been waiting for a guy JUST like you."

Koopa grinned, believing that he made a good impression.

"I don't trust this." Cherry said to herself.

"Tall, creepy, with a suit that went out with the Nixon Administration," Daisy continued. "Now why don't you get outta--"

"You don't understand; I was hired by your parents." Koopa countered.

"...My parents are dead." Daisy retorted.

"No, you were kidnapped from them as a child," Koopa corrected. "They are here in New York and they want to see you."

Daisy stared at him as she felt very shocked from that news.

"Now... Show me the mark..." Koopa demanded, growing hypnotic.

"I knew it!" Cherry called out as she rushed off. "I gotta go get the others!"

Koopa glanced off at her, but simply continued to smile to himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mario and the others were standing at a curb as Cherry approached.

"Just waiting for someone." Lionel informed her.

Just then, Big Eddie pulled up in a black Cadillac; Mario got in, and the car drove off.

"You okay, Cherry?" Atticus asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

" _Did_ you see a ghost?!" Thor panicked a bit.

"Calm down," Cherry grunted and panted. "I'm not sure what exactly I saw, but there was this guy who came to Daisy who called himself 'Koopa'." she then explained.

"What was he doing there anyway?" Lionel asked.

"He said he knew her parents, but I think he hypnotized her," Cherry warned. "I don't know what's going on with that creep, but I don't trust him."

"Hopefully we can get her out of that mess," said Lionel, just as Mario came running past. "...As soon as we get Mario out of _this_ one."

"Come on, we better catch up with him." Atticus replied before running off after Mario.

The others then began to follow as well to see what was going on now.

"LUIGI!!" Mario shouted as he ran for his life, the Cadillac tearing after him. " **I'M GONNA MURDER YOU FOR THIS!!** "

"This is bad." Atticus said.

"I wonder what happened?" Thor frowned.

"I'm not sure if I wanna find out," Patch replied. "Only... Where is Luigi right now?"

Cherry suddenly stopped and groaned as she had an idea. "I bet you guys that he's going to see Daisy right now." she then said lowly.

"He has no idea what sort of trouble he's gotten Mario into..." Lionel remarked. "Time to get moving!"

And so, the group ran off to find Luigi.

* * *

Luigi smiled as he made his way over to the flower shop with some pizza and a box of chocolates. He then came to the front counter and rang the bell as no one was there at the front counter at first.

"Be right there!" Daisy's voice replied.

Luigi waited before he soon saw Koopa and the two looked each other in the eyes for a few moments before seeing a dead, withered rose. He had a very bad feeling about this stranger, but he didn't act on it just yet.

"Luigi, you're not gonna believe this!" Daisy soon beamed as she flushed with excitement once she saw him, now wearing a sweater. "My parents are alive! They're here in New York!"

"Daisy, you're kidding me; that's great!" Luigi smiled, excited that she was excited.

"This is Mr. Koopa," Daisy then introduced. "They hired him to find me."

Luigi held out his hand. "Nice t'meetcha. I'm Luigi," he said.

Koopa shook his hand, but as it happened, Luigi focused on the hand; for a brief moment, it almost looked like a scaly green reptilian claw! Luigi did a double-take, and the hand was a hand again.

Daisy noticed the box of chocolates and the pizza. "Our lunch! I completely forgot!" she exclaimed, hitting herself with her hand.

"Yeah, an' I brought desert, too," Luigi replied. "Your favorites: cream centers."

"Luigi, that's very sweet, but can we do this tomorrow?" asked Daisy. "Mr. Koopa is taking me to my parents right now; they're staying at the Waldorf," she suddenly realized she forgot something. "Oh! My purse!" So she disappeared into the back to get her bag, leaving Luigi alone with Mr. Koopa.

Luigi then glanced at Mr. Koopa and shrugged as he decided to do something nice for this stranger. "Like a piece?" he then offered as he opened the box and offered a slice to him. "Got lots of mushrooms."

"I'm allergic to mushrooms... Take it away!" Mr. Koopa grunted, recoiling at the offer as he tried to hold in a sneeze and turned away from Luigi before he seemed to sneeze out fire which scorched a nearby hanging fern instantly and he soon turned back.

"Luigi! Wait!" Cherry's voice called out as she and her friends rushed over to the flower shop. "Ugh... I hate running."

"You should get more exercise." Thor suggested.

"Daisy, I gotta talk to ya! Now!" Luigi called to the girl as she came back with her bag.

"Take all the time you want, honey," Clair told her co-worker. "I'll cover for ya here."

"The taxi is waiting, Miss Flora." Koopa told Daisy.

"Luigi, I'll talk to you later, okay?" Daisy replied. She looked at Clair, then back to Luigi. "There's something important I want to tell you," she kissed Luigi on the cheek, cutting off his response. "Bye!"

Luigi stood by as he didn't know what to do until he took out the ruby locket and it made him realize something very important and crucial. The taxi driver looked back at Luigi, seeming to have reptilian eyes as he went to hide his face before he rode away with Mr. Koopa and Daisy.

"Luigi, waaait!" Cherry called out. "Ugh... What does it take to get one dude to stop?!"

"Well, he's in a hurry," Lionel told her. "He doesn't have _time_ to stop!"

"LUIGI! LUIGI!!" Mario shouted as he came around the corner, seeing his brother getting into their van. "STOP!!"

But Luigi wasn't listening, as he took off in the vehicle, so Mario had to keep on running.

"I'll kill 'im..." Mario wheezed. "...I'LL KILL 'IM!!"

Mario and the adventure team soon found this to be quite frustrating as Luigi was off on his own. Luigi soon steered wildly into traffic as he was now a man on a mission as Mario and the group began to follow him on the streets.

"I have a concerned feeling about this," Thor frowned at the others. "We're gonna have to jump him."

Mario kept on running on the sidewalk, shouting and waving his arms to get Luigi's attention. Luckily, he managed to grab onto the side of the van as it tore around a corner after the taxi.

"Jump? Are you nuts?" asked Lionel. "We'd be safer running after him!"

"No, you know, jump him, like go after him and stop him in order to get his attention," Thor explained. "I was trying to sound like a street kid."

Lionel sighed. "Then just _say_ that! You know I don't speak 'Street'!" he replied as they kept running. "But then again, that van might not be able to stop so easily."

* * *

At that moment, the door Mario clung to swung open, sending his body into the path of an oncoming truck! Fortunately, the van changed lanes at that moment, causing the door to swing back. Turning around, Mario saw Big Eddie's Cadillac coming down the street, right on his tail. Mario got a foothold on the back bumper, and flung himself into the van, just as the Cadillac hit, rocking the van slightly.

"Ooh..." The group winced and cringed slightly as Mario took off like that.

Luigi looked back to see what the big deal was before he looked a bit wide-eyed.

"LUIGI!" Mario called out.

"Mario!" Luigi gasped. "Whatya doin' back there?"

"Comin' to murder you!" Mario replied as he took out a wrench.

Luigi felt a bit startled and surprised, but was too focused on Mario to notice that a bus was passing at the intersection in front of them.

"LOOK OUT!" Mario then warned him.

Luigi soon turned around to notice the bus, then hit the brakes as the van spun out, barely missing the van. The Cadallic soon went to go next, but then slid sideways into the bus.

"Brr... I just hate car chases like this..." Patch shuddered in discomfort and nervousness.

Inside the van, Mario was thrown to and fro, loose wrenches and pipes battering him in the head. Luigi, meanwhile, had spotted the taxi turning into an alley up ahead; he drove the van after it, his determination continuing. As the taxi passed the loading dock, a truck backed out, blocking the alley.

Mario got to his feet. "We lost 'em, Luigi!" he told his brother. "So, I think you can slow--"

Just then, Luigi hit the brakes, inches from the truck. 

Mario flew forward and smacked against the windshield. "...Down."

"They're getting away!" Luigi exclaimed. He jumped out of the van and continued the chase on foot.

"I can't run anymore." Cherry groaned.

Atticus soon bent down and picked up Cherry and let her ride on his back before running as Thor decided to do the same to Lionel.

" _Who's_ getting away?!" Mario asked Luigi before he looked back and saw the Cadillac roaring down the alley, so he then jumped out and ran after Luigi.

"Wait up, guys!" Atticus called out to Mario and Luigi. "We're coming in for back-up!"

"Speak for yourself..." Cherry groaned. "My dogs are barking!"

Lionel picked her up and put her on his back as he and the others ran after the Marichelli brothers.

"Thanks." Cherry blinked.

"Of course." Lionel smiled.

"I think Luigi's coming in a bit close, you guys." Atticus said as he ran ahead of them a bit, though tried to slow down so that they wouldn't be left behind too far away.

Luigi ran over and saw the taxi, idling, in front of a small, weathered-looking diner. Trying the diner door, he saw it swung open, and he ran inside. The place was completely deserted, with everything being coated in a thick layer of dust... Although everything, even the counter and stools, were at 3/4 scale.

"Daisy?!" Luigi called out again.

Mario and the others soon caught up, some of them a little out of breath.

"Let's get some water to hydrate." Thor suggested as he took out random bottles of water.

Everyone soon took one, especially Mario, as they were out of breath as they finally caught up to Luigi.

"Well, uh, this menu is certainly interesting." Thor commented as he took a look at the menu board as Mario and Luigi caught up.

"Let's get one thing straight... _We're_ not chasing anyone," Mario began to tell Luigi. "We're _being_ chased. All because _you_ took the locket! So just hand it--" he then stopped as he looked at the menu with the young warlock in-training. "Frog KaBobs? Frog Dogs? Frog on a Stick?! No wonder this place is empty!"

"Must be Cajun food." Thor shrugged.

Luigi made his way through the door to the back room. Instead of a kitchen, he found a weird little room filled mostly with a massive pipe rising from the center of the floor. Going closer to it, he saw Daisy's purse lying five feet from where the pipe took a left turn.

"This is getting weird... But what could it all mean?" Atticus wondered.

Just then, Mario overheard Big Eddie's goons entering the establishment. Luigi pointed to Daisy's purse, but Mario grabbed him and jumped down into the pipe.

"Looks like we're about to find out." replied Lionel as he crawled down the pipe.

The others soon looked at each other and they then also followed through the pipe.

"This must be what a TV Dinner feels like." Thor grunted.

"Different franchise, buddy." Atticus advised.

"Yeah, I know." Thor shrugged as the piping was a bit tight around him since he was bigger than the others, but he could still crawl through.

"All right, now is the time to be quiet." Mario advised the adventure group behind him.

The goons came in and looked into the pipe. To them it looked empty, so they decided to leave. 

As soon as they were gone, Mario sighed in relief. "You almost got me killed, you idiot," he hissed at Luigi. "Now gimme the locket!" He grabbed at Luigi's pocket, but the locket tumbled out and fell further into the darkness of the pipe.

"Whoa! Take it easy!" Atticus cried out.

"This is bad." Patch said in worry.

* * *

Both of the brothers soon dove after the locket, grappling for the locket, but that just knocked it farther from their grasp. Suddenly, an unearthly wind kicked up and it began to suck them all through the pipe. Mario tried to put his legs out to stop, but it was no use as the group began to scream as they traveled through a series of pipes. At terrific speed, they all soon slid all around through the twisted and cylindrical chutes and there was soon a light at the end of the tunnel during their whizzing by. At the end of the pipe, the group was soon spat out into some new world with a grassy meadow with a clear blue sky. As Mario and Luigi grappled their way out of the pipe, they suddenly noticed that they were in mid-air, then hit the ground. Behind them, the pipe receded into the ground and disappeared.

Mario shoved Luigi off. "Get offa me!" he sputtered as he looked around. "The locket!"

As both brothers saw it on the ground, they both lunged for it, grappling and fighting over it. The group sweat-dropped a bit as they watched Mario and Luigi fighting like children. Then again, they _were_ brothers after all.

"It's mine!"

"Gimme it!"

"No!"

The brothers then bumped into the base of another pipe that stuck up out of the ground. As they wrestled, the group soon looked up to see the pipe and inside had a giant green-stalked plant that stood at least six feet high and was topped with a bulbous, blood-red flower that looked as big as a watermelon... It was both startling and beautiful. It stirred a bit before its petals peeled apart and had sharp and pointy teeth as it had deathly jaws, being a man-eating piranha plant.

"Last time I saw a plant like that, it was in _Little Shop of Horrors_." Cherry commented.

Mario and Luigi were still fighting in the background.

"And will you two knock it off?!" Cherry complained.

Every time the Piranha Plant snapped at Mario and Luigi, they rolled out of the way while they were grappling.

"Better idea: keep going! At least until you're out of danger!" Lionel told them.

Just then, Mario had Luigi pinned down, right when the Piranha Plant opened its jaws to chomp down.

"Mario, look out!" Luigi exclaimed.

"You think I'm falling for _that_ trick?" Mario scoffed. "Give it to me!"

As the jaws widened, Luigi gave Mario a swift punch in the face, knocking him aside as the plant bit down; Luigi rolled out of the way as well.

"Where'd that giant plant come from?" Mo wondered.

"I kinda figured you'd know, Miss Green Thumb." Cherry shrugged.

"Well, I don't!" Mo defended.

Mario and Luigi soon both noticed the plant and shared a look with each other. "Where the Hell are we?" they then wondered.

"That's a good question." Atticus remarked.

"We don't know for sure, but there's a lot of pipes and plants around here," Thor said. "It's like a video game world."

"Luigi... You ever seen this part of Brooklyn before?" Mario soon asked his brother.

"Lemme think," Luigi replied, pausing to think for a few moments. "...Uh-uh." he then said as he didn't seem to know.

"I guess this is the start of our new adventure." Atticus said to the rest of the group.

"Yeah, sure looks like it." Lionel replied.


	3. Chapter 3

**_LATER..._ **

The group was heading through a dark, mist-filled forest.

"Look... No matter how weird, no matter how crazy this seems... There has to be a logical explanation," Mario said nervously.

"Okay... Logical," replied Luigi. "So maybe...we're dead. Or... We're having a dream."

"Better, better." Mario nodded.

"...This doesn't feel like a dream, Mario." Luigi replied.

"Believe me, if this was a dream I would know." Cherry commented.

"Yeah, you're right," Mario admitted to both of them. "And for right now, let's just say we rule out dead."

"We forgot one thing. That guy in the flower shop; I'm sure he took Daisy into the same pipe we came down," Luigi replied. "That means she's gotta be down here too."

"Yeah, but where _is_ here?" Mario pondered. "It sure ain't Queens National Forest."

"Central Park?" Atticus guessed.

"Nah, no beer cans, no dead bodies," Mario shook his head. "I think we're out of the city."

"Central Park?" Cherry deadpanned to Atticus.

"Just trying to help." Atticus shrugged innocently.

"Heeelp! Somebody save me!" A voice was suddenly heard crying out.

"Sounds like someone's gettin' mugged!" Luigi gasped.

"Maybe we ain't outta the city." Mario remarked.

* * *

And so, the group ran towards the voice as quickly as possible in case this would be dangerous. As the gang made their way through the woods, they peered out to see a bizarre sight. On both sides of a wide tree trunk, two Piranha Plants were snapping at a creature, tied by a rope and being swung like a pendulum between the both of them!

"Stop it! Stop it!" The creature yelled. "I'm poisonous, don't you know that?!"

The brothers exchanged perplexed looks.

"I'm not sure who's that, but let's go in for a closer look, but be very careful about it." Thor advised.

"Agreed." Atticus replied as he nodded his head.

They soon went to explore a bit closer while being very cautious with their surroundings. Behind a tree, they saw a figure who was around three-feet-tall and appeared to be some sort of toadstool creature who appeared to be swinging upside down by its ankles with an iron collar attached to an upside-down metronome device.

"Guys... I-It's a talking mushroom! EEK!" Luigi gasped in shock.

"I am _not_ a mushroom!" The tiny creature glared as he overheard that while trying to dodge the clamping jaws down below him if he made one wrong move. "I am a toadstool! AH! And in case you hadn't noticed--AUGH! I'm gonna be lunch meat!"

"I got it, I know where we are now," Mario said to Luigi and the others. "This's gotta be some kinda nuclear waste theme park. Ya know, like 'Mutant World' or somethin'."

"Ex-CUSE me!" The toadstool called. "A little help here?"

Thor stepped over and lifted Lionel up so he could stop the metronome from swinging. Their prey out of reach, the Piranha Plants both sank into the pipes.

"Thanks," said the toadstool. "The release pin is over there!"

Thor smiled and nodded as he was then about to pull the release pin above the above the ankle collar, only to be stopped.

"You know the way back to Brooklyn from here?" Mario asked the toadstool as he stopped the young warlock.

"You're lost? I'd be glad to guide you home." The toadstool replied.

"Great." Atticus said.

"But it's kind of hard giving directions when **I'M HANGING UPSIDE DOWN!** " The toadstool then continued sharply.

"Ohh... Fair point." Atticus said then.

"Yeah." Patch nodded.

Thor then pulled the pin like he was going to do and the ankle trap sprung open, causing the toadstool to suddenly fall on the ground with a bit of a painful THUMP!

"Ooh... Are you okay?" Mo asked with concern as she winced for the poor creature.

"That did it," The toadstool groaned. "I've thrown out my stem again."

Just then, they heard a rumbling sound from overhead. Looking up, they saw a massive pirate ship, without masts or sails, as it soared overhead.

"...St. Peter on a popsicle stick!" Mario exclaimed. "What was _that_?!"

" _That_ would be Lord Koopa's Doomship!" The toadstool exclaimed. "He _never_ comes this far north!"

"Hey! He's the one who took Daisy!" Luigi exclaimed. "C'mon, gang!"

"One second." The toadstool replied before he let out a loud whistle.

After a few minutes of silence, the group began hearing footsteps approaching, along with a dust cloud. When the cloud cleared, in its place stood a small green dinosaur with red scales on the length of its back, a large bulbous nose, and a pair of red sneakers. "You called, man?" he asked.

"Great, you came, Yoshi," The toadstool climbed onto his friend's back. "...Where's Toadette?"

"I tried to stop 'em, but the Troopas took her!" Yoshi explained. "They ambushed me and put her on board with some brown-haired lady!"

"We gotta go after them!" the toadstool declared.

Before they could get running, Mario stopped him.

"Listen, you..." he began.

"Toad!" the toadstool replied. "My name is Toad!"

"You said you'd guide us home!" Mario snapped as he began dragging the dinosaur and toadstool after Luigi.

"I did?" asked Toad. "I actually have a pitiful sense of direction."

This suddenly made the group anime fall from that statement.

"Come on, you guys!" Mario called out.

The group then quickly jumped back to their feet and ran after Mario and Luigi.

"Well, Toad, it's, uh, nice to meet ya, I guess." Atticus said to the toadstool.

"Hello!" Toad smiled innocently.

* * *

At the forest clearing, the hovership soon landed and a gangplank had been lowered to the ground. Mr. Koopa still had on the three-piece suit and stood at the bottom of the plank as three of his troopers then held onto a struggling Daisy. They appeared to be half-human with turtle-like armor that was like the shell of a turtle as they did their job and looked mighty fierce, though a bit silly at the same time. There was also a gathering of denizens of this place, this Mushroom Kingdom, who were known as "Yeelahs" and they were only peasants and they were currently forced to serve as Vichy-like militia. Daisy found herself lucky enough to put up a good fight against these goons and elbowed one Trooper in the neck and kicked another in the shins only for more to come in to keep her restrained as two Yeelahs, a Captain and a Lieutenant watched the struggle.

"It's the princess!" The Lieutenant gasped as he grabbed his weapon to come to her aid only to be stopped by the Captain.

"Steady. We have no power here," The Captain reminded. "Remember that."

The Lieutenant then nodded sadly and moved his hand off of his weapon.

"I don't think you should do that!" urged Toadette, growing more and more nervous.

"Where are you taking me?!" Daisy demanded.

"The place you've always belonged, Princess." Mr. Koopa replied.

"And _why_ do you keep calling me that?!" Daisy spat. "I am NOT a princess! I'm from Brooklyn! I ride the BMT!"

A Troopa with thick glasses, a blue robe, and matching pointed hat came onto the deck. "Your Majesty. The kingdom rejoices your most triumphant return. Your most unworthy subject bows before you." he spoke.

"Stellar groveling, Kamek," Koopa declared. "Now get me outta this monkey suit!"

After a brief fumble, Kamek pulled out his wand, then waved it in the air above Koopa's head.

As the others watched, Koopa suddenly changed into a scaly green half-man half-reptile; his hands became claws, his eyes became yellow, a massive spiky green tortoise shell formed on his back, and a pair of horns grew from his ghastly green head as his face elongated into a snapping snout. "Thanks, I needed that." he grinned with a nasty chuckle. "Impressed, ladies?"

Daisy soon let out a scream as she seemed to be the opposite. Koopa then angrily motioned and the Troopers took the brunette took her up the ramp and into the ship.

"She appears to be quite _taken_ with you, my lord." Kamek remarked.

* * *

On a hill, we are soon shown Luigi as he watched and looked agonized over what to do. Daisy was soon taken to the ship as Mario, Toad, and the others began to catch up with him.

"It's Koopa," Toad warned the others. "Stay down."

"Don't gotta tell us twice." Atticus replied.

"Yeah." Patch added.

"STOP!" Luigi soon shouted out as he did the opposite. "You can't take my Daisy!" he soon rushed over before he suddenly tripped over a log and tumbled down the hill, rolling to a stop near Koopa's feet.

"Dang it." Atticus groaned for Luigi's misfortune.

"Well... We have a visitor," Koopa remarked once he saw Luigi and soon saw that Mario, Toad, and the group were being brought forward, more or less against their wills as they were pointed at with spears. "And he's brought friends," he then continued. "I do hope you'll be able to stay and sample our warm hospitality."

"This is not gonna end well." Thor groaned to the others.

* * *

**_A FEW MINUTES LATER..._ **

The group was tied to a tree.

"This is great, Luigi! Juuuust great!" Mario scowled. "Right now, we're supposed to be at Ms. Feldman's, installing a sink! But no, you gotta lead us into some psychotic fairyland! ...And that guy. Looks like an escapee from the lizard exhibit at the Bronx Zoo."

"Sorry, I can't stay, but have a wonderful death." Koopa said as he walked with his Trooper after they finished what they had to do.

"Death?!" The group gasped.

"Whoa! Hey! Can we talk--" Mario spoke up to interject.

"You can't get away with this!" Luigi cried out. "I'll come after you as long as I live!"

"Which should be about a half-minute longer," Koopa grinned darkly. "If you get my point... Heheheh..."

"I can probably get us out of here in just a sec." Atticus said confidently.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Lionel said, gesturing forward at a massive, goring pole, loaded into an enormous crossbow launcher and being pushed into place.

Two of the Yeelahs got the pole ready.

"Cheese n' crackers, it's a SCUD!" Mario exclaimed.

The repugnant reptile cackled evilly as his Doom Ship lifted into the air and took off, while the Yeelahs continued to adjust the pole's aim.

"Great... Now what?" Cherry groaned.

"I'd sit comfortably if I were you." Koopa smirked as he pinched her cheek.

"Loaded and ready, Captain." The Lieutenant soon reported.

The Captain then stood off to the side and was ready to give the countdown.

"But they haven't even had a trial!" Toad pleaded for the case of his new friends.

"Silence! Or _you'll_ join 'em!" The Captain snapped.

"Like I said, who needs a trial?" Toad then shrugged.

"Wow." Atticus said, unimpressed.

"Commence countdown..." The Captain soon demanded.

"There's gotta be some way out of this," Atticus said. "Like with magic."

"Ugh! Magic can't solve everything, Wiccan Boy!" Cherry rolled her eyes. "We might need something sharp... Mo, do you happen to have your switchblade knife?"

"I'm afraid that I don't." Mo sighed, feeling useless as the Captain began to count down.

"The ruby!" Mario soon realized once he had an idea. "Luigi, give 'em the locket!"

"Mario, you mean bribe them?" Luigi soon asked.

"YES!" Mario and Cherry urged.

"I hate for Luigi to part with the ruby locket, but maybe it's for the best." Thor pouted.

"4..."

Luigi struggled to reach for it. "I can't reach! My arm is pinned!"

"3..."

Yoshi covered his eyes. "Ohhhh... I can't watch!" he groaned.

"Wouldja stop?!" Mario yelled. "We're trying to bribe ya!"

"2..."

Luckily, Lionel managed to fish the locket out. "Wait! We'll give ya _this_!" Mario exclaimed.

Just as the lieutenant reached for the release mechanism, the Yeelah captain saw the locket. "HALT!" he ordered his lieutenant. Walking over, he picked the locket up and looked closely. "...They bear the royal ruby locket! The prophecy has come to pass!!" he exclaimed.

"Prophecy?" The group repeated as they blinked in confusion.

The Yeelahs gasped and prostrated themselves suddenly on the ground.

"All hail the Mighty Warriors!" The Captain continued.

"HAIL!" The Yeelahs repeated while the group just felt very confused.

"What's it mean, guys?" Luigi asked the others.

"No clue." Atticus replied.

"I think it means they ain't gonna whack us." Mario guessed.

"I sure hope so." Thor replied.

Two men soon jumped up and went to untie the group after the Captain had barked another command at them.

"See? I told you they were okay!" Toad spoke up. "Didn't I? Didn't I?"

"Toad! Watch out!" Thor warned as he saw what was going on.

However, Toad was too busy as he moved around with excitement and soon accidentally knocked against the release lever, launching the pole and it suddenly whooshed forward towards the group as the pole came hurtling straight for them as they let out a panicked scream as that was going to be a very messy situation. The group was then luckily spared as the pole suddenly crashed into the tree that the group was formerly tied up to, or whatever was left of it as of right now, missing them by just a few lucky inches. Mario and Cherry soon gave firm and deathly glares at Toad who just sheepishly shrugged at them.

"Better that than you." Yoshi remarked.

"Fair enough, I guess," Cherry shrugged. "So are you like a mini Godzilla."

"Please, call me Yoshi," Yoshi smiled. "And I'll happily be one of your guides throughout this strange land."

"Sounds great to me!" Thor beamed. "Aww... I want one..." he then added as he reached out and began to pet Yoshi like a dog.

Yoshi giggled as Thor began gently petting him.

"I like him," Thor smiled. "I wish I could keep him."

"Maybe some other time, Thor." Cherry suggested.

* * *

Later on, down a forest path, an old wooden cart was being pulled down the path by a horse. Inside the cart held the group along with Mario and Luigi, but also Toad and the Captain with his Lieutenant.

"So, uh, have any special stories to share?" Cherry asked. "Like... How we all got here? Does this world have a story to it?"

"Very well... I will tell you," The Captain replied. "20 years ago, Koopa crushed the king's forces and seized power. The royal family was wiped out... All but the king and his daughter."

"Whoa." Atticus said.

"Some say our king died in the fighting," The Captain continued. "But we believe he still lives."

"And all these years, Koopa's forces have enslaved us," The Lieutenant added. "Made us take arms against our own people."

"But now at last we shall be liberated," The Captain spoke again as he slapped Mario on the shoulder. "YOU... The warriors of the prophecy, YOU will vanquish Koopa, have finally come to save us."

Mario and Luigi looked at each other while the group shared looks with each other as well.

"Suppose, just suppose... Big hypothetical here... That weren't these, uh, warriors... What would happen?" Mario then asked.

The Yeelahs then suddenly moved their hands to their weapons as they had a firm warning in response to that question.

"We would kill you." The Captain replied sharply.

"Oh, well, it's a good thing that these guys here are the ones you're looking for, right?" Cherry covered up sheepishly.

"Yup!" Mario nodded. "We're definitely the guys!"

"I knew it the minute I saw them!" Toad replied with a nod. "And I know just the guy we need to see: my old buddy, Natlow the Wizard. He'll know what to do."

"Then let's go see this wizard friend of yours then, Toad." Cherry suggested.

"Right." Mo nodded in agreement.

They soon took their leave down the village path as they rode on the cart again and this time, without the trouble. The cart soon came to a halt as Toad had led them to The Wizard Union Hall: Local 123.

"Wait'll the Teamsters get a load of this." Mario remarked.

* * *

Inside, four wizards were busy gambling when the bar boy came in. "Master Natlow, visitors to see you." he said.

"I'm busy!" Natlow snapped.

"Father, it could actually be important." said a blond-haired young woman.

Natlow rolled his eyes.

"They claim to be the prophesied ones." The bar boy replied.

The wizards at the table suddenly exchanged menacing looks. In the front room, we could see a couple of ancient wizards dozing in chairs, there were paintings of great wizards from the past hanging on the bar walls, and there was a buxom barmaid doing her job. More or less, this seemed more seedy and filthy than magical and wondrous.

 **"WHERE ARE THE WARRIORS FROM--** " Natlow's voice thundered at first before he suddenly had a bit of a phlegmy cough that interrupted him. "Of the prophecy?!" he then continued.

"Yo." Luigi said as he waved from across the room.

Using his staff, Natlow began to make way towards Mario, Luigi, and the group as they had shown up there. Toad was shown to be standing behind the group.

"Um, hey." Atticus said to the wizard.

Natlow walked over to the group, looked at them for a while... Then shook his head. He turned to walk away, and then beat Mario over the head with his staff. Next, he beat Luigi with it, too! Then, his staff like a blur, he began beating the two plumbers over their heads.

"Actually, I was looking for the caliber of warrior who doesn't fall to an old man with a stick," Natlow scoffed. "IMPOSTERS!!"

"Excuse me?" Atticus glared a bit as Patch even began to growl.

Natlow soon went to walk back towards his game.

"Just a minute!" Mario soon called out. "Just a minute!"

Natlow glanced over and looked ready to whack Mario again, but luckily for the plumber, he was able to hold the staff before it could hit him.

"Swing at me again, Merlin; I'll show ya where to cram this stick!" Mario warned with a glare.

Natlow soon began to glare back at Mario until the staff was released by the plumber.

"Luigi, show him the locket," Cherry suggested to the other plumber. "Maybe that'll convince him."

"Good idea." Toad agreed with the perky goth.

Luigi soon came forward, nodding to both as he brought out and showed the locket to the old wizard.

"Hmm... Yes..." Natlow said as he soon began to observe the locket. "This IS the Royal Locket. Inside it is the secret to defeating Lord Koopa and it will reveal itself only to the true warriors," he then informed as he eyed the locket closely. "So... What is the secret?"

"Wait, you mean you don't know?" Thor asked.

"I'm asking if you know." Natlow replied.

The group blinked as they sweat-dropped a bit, feeling blank and unsure.

"As I thought!" Natlow snapped. "Liars! Charlatans!"

"Wait a minute, we can explain!" Atticus cried out.

"Wait!" Mario exclaimed. "Look, all we wanna do is get back home, see? We fell down a pipe and, don't ask me how, ended up here. So if you'd just show us the way--"

"No." Luigi said firmly.

"Th' hell do you mean, no?!" Mario asked.

"I mean, I'm not leaving until I bring Daisy back with me." Luigi replied.

"We're plumbers! Not knights in shining overalls!" Mario retorted. "We're in way over our heads!"

"I'll do it myself if you don't wanna help." Luigi crossed his arms.

"I'll do it myself if you don't wanna help," Mario mimicked derisively, before looking at Natlow and the Yeelahs. "Ah, jeez..."

" _We're_ your men," Luigi soon told Natlow. "We'll do anything you ask."

"And so will we as these warriors' helpers." Atticus added.

Natlow eyed them for a long bit, swayed by Luigi and Atticus's sincerity.

"So, whatya say?" Atticus then asked.

"First, you must prove your worthiness," Natlow soon began to tell them. "By embarking on a dangerous quest."

"Fine," Mario groaned. "We get 75 bucks an hour, plus overtime."

"Mario..." Patch grumbled warningly.

Luigi and Atticus gave Mario a look for that.

"What'd I say?" Mario shrugged innocently.

"If you succeed, and that is a remote possibility, I guarantee you will return to your world infinitely richer than you are now." Natlow soon decided.

"Infinitely richer, huh?" Mario replied, mulling that thought over a little. "That's approaching our rate."

"And now, before we go, we'll need to gather some supplies." Atticus soon told his friends.

"Yay! Adventure!" Thor beamed.

"And since you're not familiar with this world, my daughter, Peach, will accompany you." Natlow explained as the blonde young woman stepped forth.

"It's nice to meet you, heroes." Peach said as she took a bow.

"Oh, uh... Hello, there..." Mario said to the woman.

The rest of the group then greeted Peach as she became a new friend and ally of theirs.

"I should show you around a bit to help aid in your quest." Peach suggested.

"Sounds good," Cherry replied. "Also, good to meet ya."

"Sorry about my father," Peach replied. "He's been a bit testy since Bowser took over, but he means well."

"But why does Koopa want Toadette?" asked Luigi.

"Because he wants the Crown of Invincibility," Natlow explained as he led the group down a long, dark stairwell. "And the only way he can get it is if he marries the princess. If she marries Lord Koopa, he will become king... And that will be the end of us."

"But it's not like she'd agree to marry him," Yoshi replied as the group reached a door marked ANCIENT WIZARDS ONLY.

"Of course not, bah!" Natlow scoffed. "But love spells can be cast. If I had my wand and mushroom powder, I could break any spell in a jibbin!"

"Good to know." Atticus said.

Natlow soon unlocked the door and it creaked loudly as it opened as they made it into the supply room. There were cobwebbed shelves, which once held many items of magic, were currently bare, except for one wooden box. Natlow soon lifted this box which was marked "QUEST KIT" and blew off thick dust right into the group's faces which made them cough a bit. The box was soon set on the table on a table and out came a squawking reptile of some sorts that jumped out as the group flinched a bit at the sight of it.

"Flibbic! So that's where you've been hiding all these years!" Natlow chuckled at the reptile while everyone else felt startled.

"Well, that just happened." Mo shrugged as the reptile hopped away.

"Ahem... Koopa has confiscated all of our instruments of magic and placed them here," Natlow said as he brought out a map and soon dramatically stabbed the map as he explained everything to them. "In the Pit of No Return. If you have the courage to venture there and retrieve my magic wand, I will help you destroy Koopa and rescue the princess."

"Whoa! Time out here!" Mario spoke up. "You're sayin' we gotta go to a place called 'The Pit of No Return'? Why's it called that?"

"Probably not for a very good reason." Thor remarked.

"Well... Because everyone who's gone there has never come back." Natlow stated like it was obvious.

"Well, that's very reassuring," Cherry deadpanned. "We're pretty much going and sealing our doom just by helping you out in this crazy world."

"But if we went there and then came back--" Mario began to counter.

"You'd be the first, yes." Natlow nodded.

"Then you couldn't call it The Pit of No Return." Luigi spoke up.

"I suppose not!" Natlow replied, sounding a bit infuriated right now. "We would have to think up ANOTHER name for the pit!"

Mario noticed an area on the map that went in a direction opposite of the P.O.N.R. "What're these pipes here?" he asked.

"Those are the Out Pipes," Natlow replied. "The conduit from our world to yours."

"You mean we can get back home by goin'--" began Mario.

Luigi pointed firmly at the location on the map. "We're _going_ to the Pit, Mario." he said, sternly.

"Sure, sure; the pit, the pit, okay." Mario relented.

"They're goin' to the pit!" Toad declared.

"And you and Yoshi shall join them," Natlow said.

"Why us?" asked Toad.

"You want to save your beloved, don't you?" Natlow replied.

"Ohhhh... Fine." Toad sighed.

* * *

**_LATER..._ **

The group was all ready for their big adventure.

"In the pit, you will find magic to help you on your quest," informed Natlow. "But be warned: only one item per customer."

Luigi shook the wizard's hand. "Thanks for the help, sir. We're gonna come through on this."

A priest came over to bless them before their journey. As he did, a short, stubby brown creature that looked like a squat mushroom, except with a mean little face and two small feet, scurried off after observing the scene from his hiding place.

Natlow gave Luigi three silver coins. "Use them wisely," he told him. "...Now, off with you!" he declared as he smacked Toad with his staff. "Before I lose my patience!"

"Okay. Okay." Atticus said.

"We're going," Patch added. "No need to do anything rash."

"Yeah." Mo added.

And so, the squad left to begin their brand new adventure in this very strange and colorful world.

"You're all so brave," Peach smiled in admiration. "This is going to be an adventure to remember."

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Cherry replied dryly.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Mario grumbled. "My business is in the dumper, and I'm walking down the road with a dinosaur and a fungus."

"Oh, _now_ it starts: the slurs, the insults," Toad snapped. "Well, I'm not exactly turning cartwheels over it, Broom Face."

"Broom Face?!" Mario sputtered.

"Now, come on, let's just try to settle down," Atticus said. "We can do this. We can all do this."

"Yeah, I'm real thrilled, kid." Mario rolled his eyes.

They soon passed a random pile of leaves before the leaves suddenly stood up, coming to life, and a hand seemed to come out.

"Spare change?" The leaf pile soon asked, startling them briefly as it was very weird and unusual.

Cherry removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes before putting them back on and it was then realized that the leaves were actually a black robed man who wore a hood to conceal his face as he did that and not the leaves.

"Get a job!" Mario scoffed as he walked off.

"Uh, Mario?" Patch spoke up.

Mario soon stopped as he suddenly saw that Luigi was giving up the silver coins to the stranger who then walked off after receiving the coins.

"NO! Jeez! What're ya doin'?!" Mario yelped at Luigi.

"Mario, he needed the money," Luigi defended before he showed a bean. "And he gave me this."

"I once read a book where if you planted a magic bean, it could take you to any place you wanted just by thinking of it." Cherry commented.

"That sounds _wild_ and I am here for it." Lionel replied.

"A bean? Oh, this is just great, wonderful even," Mario remarked sarcastically. "Get a hamburger, and I'll MAKE SOME CHILLI!!" And he angrily stomped off down the road.

The beggar watched the group go onto their next new adventure.


	4. Chapter 4

Meanwhile, a foreboding, mist-enshrouded fortress was shown as it was Koopa's Castle.

Daisy struggled as she was being forced into a new bed chamber by Koopa's #1 Trooper: Mugger, as well as a couple of others. "Get your slimy hands off me! Let me go!" she then cried out.

They soon released her and Daisy soon tried to take that time to escape out the door, only to be instantly stopped.

"Sorry, Princess, Lord Koopa's orders," Mugger told her. "You're confined to quarters."

And so, the Troopers left the room and shut the door behind them and locked her inside of it.

"Hey! What kinda place is this?!" Daisy cried out as she tried to bang on the door. "Don't I even get a phone call?!"

"I'm sorry that you had to get captured," Toadette told Daisy. "Honestly, I don't even know why Koopa wants either of us. I mean, I'm just a simple Toadstool... And you're from a place called Brooklyn."

Koopa sighed to himself as he sat on his throne, eyeing a gleaming golden crown on a pedestal. "When I was just a Kooplet, Kamek, I hated my father," Bowser declared. "Do you know _why_?"

"Because he was cruel to you?" Kamek asked.

"No."

"Because he... Didn't bounce you on his knee?"

"No!" Bowser declared. "Because he was WEAK!"

"...That was my third guess, sir." Kamek nodded.

"Today will be remembered as a day of glory," Koopa continued. "Once more, I see a bright future ahead of me... I once had that in my youth, but two kings, whose names shall not be mentioned in my presence, would not have it. My father allowed my family's lands to be seized. We were thrown out with _nothing_. We were poor, wretched, groveling for scraps of charity!"

"It _is_ a miracle, sir." Kamek nodded.

"A MIRACLE?!" Koopa roared in his magician's face.

Kamek nervously wiped his brow. "You have endured much more suffering than most youth do. That you overcame that suffering to grow up and become such a well-adjusted ruler...is that not a miracle?" he asked.

Koopa sat back up on his throne. "No... Today's victory was my destiny, prescribed by justice," he eyed the glowing crown. "Soon, I will marry the princess and become king and the crown of invincibility will be mine. No one will _dare_ wrong me **AGAIN!!** "

"Yes, yes, such as the power of the crown, My Lord," Kamek nodded. "Of course, this power must be used wisely."

Koopa gave him a firm and hard look off that warning.

"As no doubt, you will," Kamek then continued, choosing his next words very carefully. "There's just one... Minor detail... For you to become King, the princess _willingly_ want to marry you."

Koopa simply looked at him as he didn't seem to understand the problem.

"The keyword is 'willingly'," Kamek reminded with emphasis. "She must fall in love with you."

"Ah... I see..." Koopa replied as he pondered that. "And how is that done?"

"There's one school of thought that says, to get a woman to love you, you must be... Nice to her..." Kamek explained logically.

Bowser pondered to himself. "Nice... How exactly is this achieved?" he asked.

"Well... You could give her a compliment or two," Kamek explained.. "Such as.. 'My, you're looking splendid today', or 'That's a lovely cloak you're wearing'."

"And... This will work?" Bowser soon asked Kamek as though it was a complicated science experiment or something like that.

Kamek gave a shrugging, though encouraging gesture to get him to do it.

" **I'LL BE NICE THEN!** " Bowser then decided as he shoved Kamek right out of his way and went to leave the room.

* * *

Night began to fall as Toadette stared out the barred window.

"We gotta get out of here." Daisy told Toadette.

"Believe me, I'd love to if I knew how," Toadette pouted. "It's just not fair."

Just then, their talk was interrupted when Bowser strolled in, an attempt at a smile plastered on his face. "My... You're looking splendid today," he said in a wooden tone. "What a lovely... Cloak you're wearing."

Daisy and Toadette stared at him like he'd gone off his nut.

"I trust you're finding the accommodations pleasant?" Bowser then asked.

"I'd prefer a room by the pool," Daisy replied firmly. " _Without_ bars on the window."

"Yeah." Toadette nodded in agreement.

"It's only temporary," Bowser told Daisy innocently as he approached the brunette while trying to sound romantic and charming like a fairy tale prince. "After our betrothal, we'll be sharing the royal bed chambers."

Daisy soon suddenly hit him with stinging right across to the snout once he was in her range. "In your dreams, Lizard Face!" she then retorted bravely.

Bowser yelped as he brought out a hanky for his bleeding snout, but he was trying to keep his cool and not get angry even if that did hurt and he felt it was uncalled for. "I have explained who you are, Princess--" he then began to tell her.

"What about my parents?!" Daisy glared.

"The King and Queen died valiantly, but before their death, I was appointed to their throne--" Bowser began to tell her.

"I don't believe you." Daisy glowered.

"And who better to choose as my queen than the last of the royal bloodline--" Bowser continued as he then went to stroke her cheek only for her to bite his claw, making him yowl in pain suddenly.

"Come on, you're coming with me outta here." Daisy told Toadette to escape while they still had the chance.

As the both of them made a break for it, they bumped into Mugger. Daisy tried to kick and punch him, but he was covered from head to toe in armor.

Koopa grabbed both girls and threw them back into the prison cell. "You _will_ be my bride!" he roared as he left the room, slamming the door.

"Forget it, slime-o!" Daisy shouted. "You're not my type! You're not even my SPECIES!"

"Sir, we've just received urgent news," announced a Koopa Troopa. "Looks like Mugger goofed it: the mushroom girl isn't the princess...neither is the brunette woman."

"What?!" Kamek exclaimed. "That worthless incompetent!"

"Hold your temper, Kamek," Koopa replied as he came back into the room. "I knew Mugger would botch this."

"But then why would you capture a false princess, my lord?" asked Kamek.

"Simple," Koopa replied. "If the fake is captured, then the real McCoy will come out of the woodwork soon enough. Besides... I've tried 'nice'. It was **LESS THAN EFFECTIVE!**!"

"I have an alternate plan, my lord," Kamek suggested. "A love potion! I could whip it right up! I guarantee that in a day or 2, the princess would love even the ugliest ogre in the kingdom..." he backpedaled once he saw Koopa's stony glare. "...or you, sir! Definitely you. After all, who wouldn't?"

"This better work, Kamek," Bowser remarked. "Because the wedding will take place the day after tomorrow, as planned. You sent the invitations?"

"Of course!" Kamek nodded. "Thousands from near and far are clamoring to attend!"

Bowser gave a pleased nod. "Then go! Work your sorcery! Create a potion to soften... Her heart, but only use them for the _real_ Princess! Only the mushroom girl knows her hiding place. I know she won't divulge such confidential information willingly, so we must... Loosen her tongue. Go and give the mushroom some of my special alcohol-laced chocolate. She won't be able to keep her trap shut once she has a few!" he explained.

Just then, another Troopa showed up as Kamek exited. He gave Bowser the message, which he read, before crushing angrily.

"I thought I took care of those little drips!" Bowser scowled. "And you say the old wizard's child is with them?"

"Indeed," The Troopa nodded. "But why would you pretend to think the fungus was the princess?"

"All part of the plan," Bowser replied. "Take the Hammer Bros; and this time, exterminate them."

* * *

Later that night, the group made it to a stop known as The Landfill of Lost Items. The group was very tired and soon decided to come to a stop.

"We'll camp here for the night." Mario suggested.

"Agreed." Atticus nodded.

Cherry soon plopped down on the ground before wincing as she sat on something painful and stood up as she found a ring of keys and soon picked it up. "Somebody lost their keys." she then observed.

"Weird." Patch said.

"She's right... And a comb," Mario added as he found more lost items. "A sweat sock... And an owner's manual to a 1955 Desto? What is this place?" he then wondered.

"It's the Island of Misfit Paraphernalia." Cherry said ominously and jokingly.

"Very funny, Cherry." Mo rolled her eyes.

"Heck if I know." Yoshi replied.

"All we know is, _that_ never stops." Toad added as he pointed to the top of the heap, where steady streams of misplaced items tumbled out of huge pipes.

Luigi picked up a bunny slipper. "Hey, I know what this is!" he realized. "This is where all the lost stuff from our world ends up! Missing socks, loose change, or in this case... A discarded slipper!"

While Lionel began setting up camp, Luigi dug through the pile some more until he pulled something out.

"Mario! Look!" Luigi exclaimed. "Papa's swiss army knife! See? His initials!"

Mario came over and looked at it. "Yeah, it's the one."

"Remember? He gave it to me when I was 10!" Luigi smiled.

"Yeah, and then _you_ lost it," Mario remarked. "I wouldn't have lost it if he gave it to _me_." He handed Luigi the knife back and then walked off.

* * *

Later on, a campfire was soon made, a couple of tents were pitched, and everyone was getting settled for the night. Luigi, Thor, and Patch were curled up, asleep, turned away from everyone else.

"Heh, I guess Thor tuckered himself out a little bit." Cherry remarked.

"He has so much energy." Atticus nodded in agreement.

"This reminds me of the old days before I met you guys," Mo said softly. "Sleeping under the stars and finding my own way to get warmed up and heated for the evening on those cold and dark nights. Only thing missing is Angel and a bunch of other dogs in the junkyard."

Toad reached onto his head and plucked off a tiny mushroom that had grown on his head, then ate it. Mario watched, grimacing.

"Poisonous to anyone else, but for me, an excellent source of fiber," Toad smiled, before he grew curious."...so, what's it like having a brother? I'm an only 'stool." he asked.

Mario scoffed. "Consider yourself lucky, then," he said as he stared into the crackling flames. Then, it all came out, in a rush of emotion. "I really wanted that swiss army knife. I really wanted it...but Luigi got it. Luigi always got everything. Know what I got? When Papa died, I got to go to work. And when Ma died, I got _him_ ," he said, jerking his head at Luigi. "...you wanna know what it's like having a brother? It's a rock in your shoe you can _never_ shake out. It's the feeling of lemon juice on a canker sore! It's underwear that _ALWAYS_! KEEPS! RIDING! UP!!" he huffed and panted for a minute before he calmed down. "...Now, don't you feel lucky you don't have a brother?"

Toad gave him a lopsided look. "I feel lucky I don't have _you_ as a brother," he replied. "Good night."

"You know, you ought to be ashamed of yourself," Peach told Mario. "Being so ungrateful despite having a family that loves and cares about you."

Mario rolled his eyes. "Whatever..." he remarked as he settled into his sleeping bag.

"Good night, everybody." Cherry suggested.

The others nodded as they had a long day and even more to come, especially in rescuing Daisy from Bowser Koopa.

"I'm sure Mario will warm up later." Atticus said to Peach.

"You always try to stay positive, huh?" Peach asked.

"I try anyway," Atticus nodded. "Besides, somebody in this family has to."

Luigi seemed to be awake as he was shown to have heard everything after Toad and Mario began to fall asleep with their new friends.

"I do hope Mario softens up soon." Atticus said to his friends.

"We shall see." Cherry replied to him.

* * *

**_THE NEXT MORNING..._ **

As the sun rose, Mario was the first awake. He glanced over at a signpost that was between a fork in the road. The left read "TO OUT PIPE". The right read "TO PIT OF NO RETURN".

"So, which way are you gonna go?" Cherry asked from right behind him.

"Dah!" Mario yelped and clutched his chest as he caught his breath. "Jeez, kid, you scared me!"

"Thank you," Cherry replied. "So, which way are you going?"

"Uh... Well... Just thinking..." Mario said. "Why aren't you asleep with the others?"

"I couldn't fall back asleep and I sensed something was amiss," Cherry replied. "You're not gonna betray us, are you?"

"What? No! Never! Of course not!" Mario defended. "I just wanted to get some fresh air and I happened to see these two signs... That's all..."

"Hmm... Quite..." Cherry replied suspiciously before she backed away from him and soon went back to the campsite to see Luigi and her friends. "If you stab me in the back, I will remember it. Make no mistake of that." she then warned him in a grave voice.

Mario shivered to himself. "...Damn kid..." he murmured under his breath. Turning back to the signs, he got out the map from his pocket and he snuck off.

* * *

**_LATER..._ **

Toad and the group were all walking along a rocky mountain pathway.

"You sure we're going the right way?" Luigi asked. "The map said the Pit was north. We're going south."

"You saw the sign," Mario replied. "It said the Pit is _this_ way."

"I think that someone probably changed the sign," Atticus spoke up. "Let's take a look at the map."

Mario ignored him as he continued to walk down the path regardless of difference of opinion.

"Give us the map, Mario." Luigi said firmly.

"Hey! I know exactly where we're goin'!" Mario retorted strongly.

Luigi soon made a grab for Mario's pocket and the two then wrestled down to the ground and into the bushes before tumbling down the small hill as the group went to go after them, sighing at their immaturity.

"Will it kill you two to grow up and get along for a change?" Mo scolded as she crossed her arms and shook her head.

"They're not gonna just stop fighting like *snap* that," said Lionel. "They've got plenty of bad blood between them both. This confrontation was brewing for years."

But over the hill, they saw the Mushroom People, being forced to work as slaves by Goombas who cracked whips with their mouths.

"Goombas!" Toad gasped. "And they've enslaved my people! If they find me..." He climbed onto Yoshi's back and was about to take off, but Mario grabbed Toad and shushed him, pointing to the Hammer Bros., coming in on jet-black horses.

"Those guys are making me nervous." Thor whispered to others.

"Shh!" Cherry shushed. "They might hear you."

One of the Troopers was shown to be talking with a Goomba before shaking his head. One of the Hammer Brothers then signaled the other before they rode on a path that curved behind the group that was hiding away from them.

"They're headed this way!" Toad panicked.

"Keep a lid on it!" Mario scolded as he clamped his hand over Toad's mouth. "I got an idea."

"Yikes." Cherry said in a snarky voice.

"Just trust me, okay?" Mario told her.

"I'll try," Cherry replied. "Let's just be quiet and quick about it."

As the Hammer Bros. made their way up the path, an empty cart passed nearby. It had an overhead hook that was slung over an elevated rope tow like a ski lift. Quickly, the group ran and jumped into the empty cart, as it moved towards where the dragon fruit was thrown in.

"...This was a good idea..." commented Toad.

"You switched the signs, Mario," Luigi hissed. "You were taking us to the out-pipe! How could'ja do that?!"

"Can we argue about this later, Luigi?!" Mario retorted.

"He's right," Peach whispered. "Here comes the dragon fruit!"

As the cart was pulled past, each worker threw in a dragon fruit, which was hard, spikey, and rock-like.

"I bet one of those could keep any doctor away," Thor remarked. "I mean, I'd understand if it was Wumpa fruit, but this? This is just not very good."

"Thor, shh!" The others shushed.

"Sorry..." Thor then said.

Inside the cart, there were slight yelps of pain heard while the workers shoveled in the dragon fruit. Two workers soon exchanged looks as they overheard the yelping as their curiosity got the better of them. Atticus soon decided to use his magic that time to spare them from dragon fruit related injuries as they tried to be quiet while hiding, though Cherry took a look out to see the path that they would go down once the cart would be loaded up enough.

"Allow me to retract my compliments about your idea..." Toad groused.

The Hammer Bros. came galloping towards the cart. **"STOP THAT CART!!** " One of them shouted.

A Goomba looked inside the cart, only to react in shock as he saw the Plumbers and their allies inside.

"Heh... Hello..." Atticus grinned nervously as he waved at the Goomba.

The Goomba soon looked ready to pull the lever to turn off the rope tow, but Mario grabbed a shovel from a nearby worker and slammed it into the back of the Goomba's head and the Goomba soon went knocked against the lever and the rope tow was sent down into high speed and lifted off the ground while speeding down the mountain.

The Hammers soon dismounted and jumped into the next cart from 20 yards behind the adventure team's cart which sped down the rope tow about 50 feet in the air.

"From now on, I'm on my own, Mario." Luigi decided firmly.

"Great! Be on your own!" Mario retorted. "If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Excuse me," Toad spoke up as he pointed from behind their cart. "We've got company."

"This is bad." Atticus said once he saw who was coming.

"And I doubt they have presents for us." Cherry added, cynically towards Thor as the Hammer Brothers brought out their backpacks.

"Cherry, I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid," Thor glared before gasping as the two soon brought out their lethal weapons from their backpacks. "Those axes could probably slice a tree!"

"Luigi, remember when we used to play burn-out?" Mario asked.

"You always threw too hard," nodded Luigi. "It hurt my hand."

Mario handed everyone a dragon fruit. "Time for a little hardball."

Luigi nodded, though Peach was a bit befuddled at first.

"Yarr, don't fire till ye see the whites of their eyes!" Yoshi exclaimed.

"The guy's got taste." Lionel smiled.

"1... 2... 3!" Mario called out, and everyone began throwing dragon fruits.

"Hope you boys are hungry!" Thor called out as they tossed the dragon fruits.

The Hammer Brothers' cart then suddenly one of the fruits slammed into one of them, knocking him out of the cart and sending him plummeting below.

"Got him!" Cherry soon cheered with the others.

Mario and Luigi cheered as well and soon high-fived each other.

"In your face!" Mario called out to the other cart mockingly.

Enraged, the remaining Hammer Brother soon grabbed another axe and gave it a mighty throw, sending it whooshing through the air.

"Duck!" Thor called out to the others.

Luckily, the group managed to duck as the axe swung over their heads, however, the axe suddenly hit a rope tow support tower. This then sliced off the pulley that supported the rope causing the group's cart to plummet and the group began to panic as this looked pretty bad for all of them. Atticus soon jumped out of the cart and soon came underneath it and decided to fly them down to safety so that they wouldn't crash.

* * *

"Are we flying?" Mario asked.

"Sure looks like it." Luigi replied.

The Hammer Brothers shouted and growled angrily, but since they'd already thrown their hammers, they couldn't do much.

"He does that," Lionel replied with a shrug. "...You get used to it, even if it interrupts the flow of adventures and removes crucial plot points."

Mario and Luigi just shrugged back as they went with it.

"I see a road coming," Atticus said to the others. "Ready to land?"

"By all means," Peach replied. "Let's just hope we stay out of trouble from there."

Atticus nodded as he soon set the cart down on the road to safety as he smiled at the others. The others soon felt victorious and excited, though they didn't know, even Atticus, that Mugger was around on the same road unfortunately. As the massive creature turned and saw that the group's cart was rolling across the road, he gestured to his troops. They whirled around, and charged after the group. The cart whumped and bumped its way through the misty terrain, hit a rock, then bounced and smashed into a huge tree stump. Toad, Yoshi, and the plumbers laid on the ground in a daze.

The stump's top opened up like a doorway, and an incredibly ugly hag emerged. "Oh good, a handsome stranger~!" she crooned.

As she bent over Mario, her lips puckered, as the plumber's vision came into focus. " **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!** " he screamed.

"Mmmm... Kiss me~!" The hag beckoned.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!" Mario yelped.

"Just one! No tongue~" The hag replied.

"GET OUTTA TOWN!" Mario exclaimed.

The others soon panicked a bit as they heard thundering horse hooves through the mist.

"Please! You gotta hide us!" Toad panicked.

"And we mean _now_!" Atticus added.

"I will, but first, he must marry me," The hag replied before nodding eagerly at Mario. "I was a beautiful young woman. A spell was cast that turned me into this."

"Whoa..." Mario replied. "Hadda be one of those industrial-strength spells."

"If a handsome stranger kisses me, the spell will be broken." The hag then informed.

"Classic Frog Prince dilemma," Cherry nodded before looking at the guys in the group. "So, who wants to be the lucky guy?"

"Let _him_ kiss you." Mario soon decided, gesturing to Luigi to the hag.

"You're more my type." The hag retorted with a coquettish smile.

The approaching horse hooves soon got closer as Patch looked scared to death as he could hear them coming and fast!

"Kiss her, Mario!" Thor advised.

"Just a little peck is all." The hag added as she pointed to her wart-encrusted cheek.

"She's just a bit green and warty like Cousin Susie, but other than that, she's not so bad." Thor told Mario.

"That just bursts my enthusiasm, kid." Mario rolled his eyes.

"Do it or we're dead!" Toad urged Mario.

Mario groaned as he tried to brave the kiss and soon leaned in to give a cheek kiss. However, the hag then suddenly grabbed his face without warning and gave him one of the juiciest kisses in film history, bending him over backwards and dropped him to the ground when the kiss was done.

"Wow." Atticus and Patch said.

"Well... Did it work?" The hag asked hopefully, but she didn't change a bit.

"Yeah! You're practically a beauty queen!" Mario grunted as he spit out the taste of the kiss.

Luckily, the hag seemed to accept that and soon pulled on the branch of the stump and the door opened. The group wasted no time in rushing inside the panel before the door closed as they hid away just in the nick of time as Mugger arrived at the scene.

* * *

Mugger looked around the area. "Where did they go?!" he thundered.

"Where did _who_ go?" asked the hag, before she eyed Mugger. "Oooh~ you're cute~!"

Mugger looked repulsed by her as she made kissy-faces at him. He quickly gestured, and he and the Troopers thundered off into the mist.

Once they were definitely gone, the hag pulled down a branch; the panel slid open, and Mario stuck his head out. "...They're gone." he sighed in relief as he and the group climbed out.

The hag took out a cracked hand mirror from her cloak and gazed into it, disappointed. "I know why it didn't work," she said, turning towards Mario. "Your heart is cold. But someday, you'll change... And then we'll make kissy-face~!" she pursed her lips again, and Mario recoiled, nauseated.

"Thank you, you've been very kind," Luigi told the hag before turning towards Mario. "And I'll take that map now, Mario."

Seeing that there was no talking Luigi out of this, Mario gave him the map, and he walked off.

"Goodbye, Mario," Luigi said coldly. "Go home if you want, but I'm not gonna leave Daisy. Not when she needs me."

"Well, gee! Thanks for givin' me permission!" Mario snapped as he was about to head off, before Peach stopped him.

"Mario, you can't leave!" she exclaimed. "Sure, you're surly and bad-tempered, but I can definitely see something in you that manifests in having the will and courage to do the right thing."

Mario sighed. "...Fine, I'll stay," he replied. "But only cuz if 'Baby Luigi' wandered off on his own, Ma would never let me live it down!" he looked up to the sky. " **AIN'T THAT RIGHT, MA?!** " he screamed.

* * *

_**SHORTLY AFTER...** _

Following another long trek and a few cross-fades, the group had at last exited the forest, and come to the Pit of No Return. Before them was a massive hole in the ground, 50 yards across.

" _Now_ where are we going?" Toad asked as he followed behind, feeling very confused. "Can't you people make up your mind? First we're going this way, then we're going that way--"

"Just go with it, Frog." Cherry told him.

"My name is _Toad_." Toad corrected.

"Right... Toad... Because that's _so_ much better." Cherry replied.

"Watch it, girly!" Toad warned sharply.


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile, at a certain castle, someone was very unhappy and no points for guessing who it was.

"ESCAPED?!" Bowser snarled.

"Yes... My Lord..." Mugger confirmed.

Bowser heaved a sharp sigh as he tried to keep his cool. "I am TRYING to manage an evil kingdom. Am I getting any help?" he then asked rhetorically.

Mugger looked ready to answer that question.

"NO! I AM _NOT_!" Bowser then snapped before going back to calm. "Prepare my ship. I will kill these humans myself."

"What about the dog?" Mugger then asked.

"And that little dog too!" Bowser replied firmly.

Mugger then bowed and hurried away on that command. In the dungeon, Toadette was eating the alcoholic chocolates, and hiccuping to herself as she chuckled.

* * *

**_BACK AT THE PIT..._ **

The group headed over.

" _'Welcome to the Pit of No Return',_ " read Lionel from a signpost. " _'Entered: 57, Returned: 0'._ "

The group glanced at one another, before taking torches and heading inside.

"Well, that's very reassuring," Cherry snarked. "No turning back now though."

"Right." The rest of the group nodded in agreement for the most part.

And soon, halfway down the steps to the cave, Mario descended onto a step before it suddenly withered away. Mario yelped as he nearly fell, though his torch fell down into the long downward abyss and was barely hanging onto the ledge until Luigi and Toad rushed down and helped pull him back up.

"Whew! That was too close." Atticus sighed.

"Tell me about it." Patch agreed.

The others soon carefully jumped over the collapsed step so that they could keep going and soon made it to the cave entrance. Luigi held out his torch and looked around before grimacing at the sight of dismembered skeletons and skulls which were littered about.

"I wonder... Did these guys... Buy it... Going in... Or out?" Mario commented.

"Let's just keep going," Cherry advised. "And Patch? No chewing, eating, slobbering, or whatever you dogs do around bones before burying them in the yard."

"Yes, Cherry." Patch rolled his eyes.

"He's not gonna desecrate dead bodies by chewing on them!" Lionel remarked. "He's got a LITTLE more class than that!"

"Well, I don't know much about dogs, but I know that they like bones." Cherry defended.

Patch shuddered as they soon continued along. They went further inside the cave before they suddenly heard a creaking sound.

"Did anyone else hear that?" Thor asked cautiously.

"Yeah..." The others nodded nervously.

Suddenly, both walls had nine-inch spikes on each side and they were closing in suddenly about to skewer and crush the group.

"RUN FOR IT!" Mario cried out.

"Don't gotta tell us twice!" Atticus replied.

The group made a break for it as the spiked walls got closer and closer. Luigi tripped over a skull and fell, as his eyes locked in on a rusty broadsword in a skeleton's hand. He then yanked it free, and jammed it sideways, wedging it between the walls and leaving a relatively thin space to pass through. Toad was the last one through as the walls closed shut.

"...Piece a' cake." said Mario.

"That's what you think, pipsqueak," sneered a voice.

Mario rounded on Toad. "What'd you say?!"

"Lay off, man; he didn't say anything." Yoshi replied.

Mario looked at the others, all of whom didn't recognize the voice. "...Who-Who's there?" he asked.

"C'mere and find out." chuckled the voice.

* * *

Mario moved forward, and as he did, he stepped on a tile; and suddenly, a massive blue, spiked, square creature, or "THWOMP", slammed down where Mario would've been.

"Missed! %$#@*&$!" The Thwomp swore.

Startled, Mario stumbled forward and fell on a second stone. A second Thwomp then shot down and Mario rolled away just in time away from that one. Ka-WHAM! It then growled out another unintelligible curse.

"He got away!" The second Thwomp complained.

"You blockhead! Can't you do anything right?!" The first Thwomp complained.

"Look who's talkin', you missed him by a mile!"

"Oh, shut up!"

"Mario... You okay?" Cherry called.

"I-I'll be fine..." Mario panted. "That was a bit hectic."

* * *

They soon went off with the others again after the Thwomps were taken care of properly.

Mario then illuminated the cave floor with his torch light, showing similar stone tiles on the passageway ahead of them. "Keep off of these." he then warned the others about the stones that he had found based on his experience.

They then continued on carefully, avoiding the tiles that activated the Thwomps. Suddenly, they heard a whirring sound and stopped dead in their tracks. From in the darkness, they found a one-inch-high black bomb that resembled a wind-up toy with mechanical feet and its wind-up in the back.

"Aww... It's kinda cute..." Thor cooed.

"Not for long!" Cherry warned. "That's a bomb!"

The bomb then began to count down as it started ticking. "13... 12... 11... 10... 9..." it said as it jumped into Mario's arms. 

Panicking, Mario threw it to Luigi, who threw it to Toad, then to Peach, then Yoshi, then back to Mario. Thinking fast, he saw a Thwomp tile and stepped on it. The Thwomp shot down just as the Bob-omb blew up.

"Thanks for droppin' in." Mario remarked.

The Thwomp let out a groan before it crumbled to pieces. The group soon wandered into a dark tunnel.

They took a turn around and suddenly stopped to gaze up in wonder at the final chamber. It was a cavernous circular chamber bathed in a multi-colored glow emanating from heaps of magical items such as amulets, wishing stones, ingredient jars, potion pots, crystal balls, and a whole lot more.

"Looks like a stand going out of business in the Netherworld Marketplace." Thor commented.

"I'd say that's pretty accurate." Atticus nodded in agreement.

"Eh... I've seen better stuff at garage sales." Mario shook his head as he picked up a rabbit's foot with a chain at the end of it.

"Remember what Natlow said," Luigi reminded the others. "One item each."

"Right," Peach nodded. "Also remember to choose wisely while we're here, guys."

Mario spied a tiny jewelry box. He flipped the lid open, revealing a glistening jewel the size of a flash drive. He glanced over his shoulders to see if he was being watched, and when he saw he was in the clear, he pocketed the jewel. Peach took a large five-pointed star that glowed bright yellow from a nearby shelf. 

Toad rummaged through a large wooden chest, lifting out a worn leather pouch. " _'Magic mushroom powder: effective in breaking spells, curses, and other assorted bewitchments... Also delicious when sprinkled over soups and salads'_." he read from the tag attached. Figuring he'd need it later, he pocketed it underneath his cap.

Luigi saw an urn, labeled 'FLIGHT GEAR'. Curious, he popped it open, reached inside, and pulled out a bright red leaf.

"That's strange," Atticus commented. "How would a leaf be flight gear?"

"Makes about as much sense as anything else that's happened so far." Patch shrugged.

"I think I found a magic wand, you guys." Thor said as he soon took out a foot-long bejeweled baton covered in gold filigree and topped with a luminescent pale blue stone.

"Wow... A real magic wand!" Luigi gasped as he looked with Toad in awe.

"Yeah, right," Mario scoffed. "If you believe in that kind of thing, okay, mission accomplished. Let's blow this pop stand."

"I'm sure it's a magic wand, Mario," Thor defended. "I would know... Especially my family."

"If you say so, but I'm outta here." Mario shrugged.

Cherry soon took out a blue turtle shell before shrugging as Mo found a colorful flower that seemed to have eyes.

"Wait, that's not right." Atticus said after finding a golden ring as it seemed to let out a chiming sound once found.

"What's not right?" Lionel asked as he found a mushroom with a red cap, speckled with white spots.

"I feel like this ring shouldn't be here." Atticus said, showing the random golden ring.

"Weird..." Cherry shrugged.

"I like this flower," Mo smiled. "It seems interesting... Though probably not as interesting as Peach here finding an actual star."

"Question is, how are we gonna get out of here?" Lionel asked.

"You could teleport us out," suggested Patch.

"Sure, sure, but I wanna see what else everyone's got." Lionel replied.

"Why don'cha use the wand?" asked Luigi.

"Right, sure," Mario shrugged, waving it halfheartedly. "Like, open sesame..." he said, but nothing happened. He shook the wand like it was a flashlight. "Prob'ly made in Taiwan.."

"Lemme give it a shot." Luigi replied, taking the wand.

Mario rolled his eyes. "Yeah, let the great Luigi have a go at it." Peach just nudged him.

Luigi closed his eyes in concentration and began waving the wand in grand circular motions.

"What are you _doing_?" asked Mario, annoyed.

"Gettin' it warmed-up. Don'cha know anything about magic?" Luigi replied as he continued to wave it. "Open... Open... Open... NOW!!"

The wand's top glowed, and the walls lurched open, moving back, leaving a wide corridor between the spikes.

"Whoa." Atticus smiled.

"You see, Mario, the proper technique is to hold the wand like this--" Luigi began to demonstrate.

"Gimme that!" Mario glared as he gruffly snatched the wand and hustled down the corridor.

Luigi looked at Toad and the others and simply shrugged before they soon went after Mario.

* * *

They soon passed the last of the spikes and saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

"This is it, guys!" Patch beamed. "We're home free!"

"Pit of No Return," Mario quipped. "Stick it in your--"

Suddenly, a spooky-looking phantom with elongating arms and legs shot out in front of Mario's face.

"Whoa!" Atticus and Patch yelped.

"Hello, there." Cherry blinked at the ghost.

"Give it back!" The ghost demanded as it soon grabbed Mario, shooting back into the wall and taking Mario with it as he seemed to go through the wall too through some creepy ghost magic.

"Mario? Where are you?!" Luigi cried out. "MARIO?!"

"We gotta help him!" Mo told the others.

Mario stuck out of the wall, partially visible. " **HEEEELP!!!** " he shouted.

Luigi and Yoshi ran to pull him out, and when they did, the jewel from earlier fell out of his pocket.

"It's MINE!" The ghost, a Boo Buddy, exclaimed as it grabbed the jewel and pulled it into the wall.

"NO!" The group cried out and panicked.

Luigi, Toad, and the others looked concerned about what this could mean for their quest to go on without Mario.

However, suddenly, Mario was then spit out of the wall and the others surrounded him.

"Hey, uh, Mario, are you okay?" Cherry asked.

Luigi soon picked up Mario and helped dust him off before getting his hands slapped away.

"Let's just get outta here," Mario suggested. "Place gives me the heebie-jeebies."

"You shouldn't have taken that jewel." Luigi advised as they walked away.

"Shut up, Luigi." Mario complained.

* * *

They soon made it into the rim of the pit and stumbled up the steps of the pit and soon suddenly fell to the ground.

"We made it!" Toad cheered. "I can't believe we actually--"

A shadow soon loomed across them, cutting their cheerful victory a little short.

"Oh, man... What now?" Atticus complained.

Mugger and a squad of Troopers hovered over them and they were given an unwanted guest, more so than Mugger and the Troopers of course.

"Look what crawled outta the ground," Bowser smirked. "A gaggle of vermin who be poppin' up with irritating regularity."

"Back off, man!" Yoshi snapped, putting up his dukes.

Bowser snapped his fingers and had the Koopa Troopas surround the group.

"What should we do with these troublemakers, Boss?" asked Mouser, a rodent with sunglasses. Bowser pulled him into a huddle before he had Mouser back off.

"After due consideration, I have decided to let you go," declared Bowser.

The Marios, Alpha Brigade, and Peach looked at each other...before Bowser suddenly rounded on Luigi, Toad, and Thor, and kicked them into the pit, vanishing into the blackness.

" **MARIOOOOOOOO...!** " Luigi called as he vanished.

"LUIGI!" Mario exclaimed.

"Yeah, go to the pit!" Mouser chuckled. "Good one, boss!"

With a roar of fury, Mario lunged at Bowser, with intent to kill.

"Someone's angry." Peach commented.

"It's not like we can blame him." Atticus added.

The Troopers soon went to rush in and pry Mario off of their boss as the two were wrestling down to the ground. Cherry began to look panicked and concerned for Luigi, Toad, and even Thor.

"No! I can't die now!" Thor cried out. "I didn't get to do anything useful! I guess it's best," he then sighed and pouted. "Maybe I'm just dead weight."

Toad then suddenly remembered something. "Grab the leaf!" he then told Luigi. "Grab it!"

Like a skydiver, Luigi drifted over to Toad and grabbed the leaf from his hand and suddenly grew raccoon ears and a raccoon tail and that managed to give him flight, but the others were still falling.

"Huh... That's a new look," Thor said as he took a look at Luigi's new look. "I didn't know that raccoons could fly."

"It's a tanooki," explained Lionel's head in a vision. "They're Japanese spirits."

"Ohhh... Okay." Thor replied with a blink.

"I grew a tail... I GREW A TAIL!!" Luigi exclaimed. "Toad, how do I control this?!"

Toad yelped as he couldn't answer and Luigi did his best to fly around.

"You fly like Superman with a learner's permit." Thor commented to Luigi.

Luigi soon streaked right past them.

"Ya missed us! Ya missed us!" Toad chanted.

Luigi soon made another pass, grunting as he grabbed Thor and Toad, though the young warlock was really quite heavy just as the bottom of the pit approached.

"All right, Luigi, now reverse engines!" Thor soon instructed.

"You got it." Luigi nodded as he stopped just a foot above their final demise into crashing at the bottom of the pit.

Then suddenly, the raccoon ears and tail disappeared like magic.

"Well, now we know what that leaf does." Thor remarked.

"Indeed." Luigi nodded in agreement.

The Troopers soon finally pulled Mario off of their boss and soon grabbed the rest of the group to throw them at the end of the pit after Luigi, Toad, and Thor.

"Dispose of them!" Bowser commanded.

"Nothing doing, Lizard Lips!" Lionel remarked as he took a flying leap onto one of the Troopas, squeezing it out of its shell. "Everyone, attack!"

"With what?" Cherry asked.

"Whatever ya got!" Lionel replied.

The group looked at each other and soon went to fight back against the Koopa Troopas.

"I'll get you! My people never forget!" Mario proclaimed. "We got a thing called vendetta!"

"Vendetta!" The group added.

Some of the Troopers soon came to stop the group from getting free and into victory before Yoshi soon jumped out and he stretched out his long red tongue and grabbed those Troopers by his tongue and tossed them aside.

"Our little buddy is back!" Mo smiled once she saw Yoshi come to the rescue.

"Yee-haw!" Lionel whooped as he threw the Troopa shell, knocking four others out of their shells and sending them running back to the ship. It soon took off, and Mario and Peach took off into the woods with Yoshi, followed by the remaining others.

* * *

Mario sighed, downtrodden at this turn of events. "And to think I wished I could get some time away from my brother," he remarked. "Now that I got it, I guess I shouldn't wish for some things."

"Be careful what you wish for." Peach advised.

"I've heard that one before." Mario nodded.

"I'm sure that Luigi will be fine," Atticus smiled softly. "Toad and Thor too hopefully."

"Forget it, kid," replied Mario. "He's good as gone. Back when I was 17, I was at the top o' my game: a football superstar, made it to rank of Eagle Scout, and I had scholarships out the wazoo, but one car crash changed all that... The one that took our pop. Ma couldn't do all the work by herself, me and Luigi had to to get all these odd jobs. Since then, I've been stuck as a measly plumber with no future, and all my loves have ditched me."

"You're so damaged and all alone." Peach frowned softly.

"Sister, you don't know the half of it," Mario groaned and shook his head. "I must be cursed or somethin'."

"I know about it more than you realize," Peach replied. "When I was young, my only true friend I had was my little brother Cream. But our father barely paid attention to either of us because he was so focused on trying to fix the nation after a severe power struggle, not to mention keeping invader after invader at bay. I eventually fell in love with a foreign prince...but his kingdom was next to attack Fungaria. We tried to elope, but the Prince went insane, and I couldn't stay."

"What happened to 'im?" Mario asked, but Peach didn't want to reply.

"Then Cream went missing, and I didn't see him since," Peach continued. "...And to think...I was supposed to look after him! I could've slept at ANY other time, but nooo!! Even worse, I keep hearing rumors he's alive, but those are just that; rumors. Besides, Natlow constantly underestimated Bowser, because he thought he was stupid or something. Because of all this, my childhood and teenage years were lonely and regimented, and he's been keeping the Koopas at bay just to stall until the "prophesied ones," two people some crazy soothsayer described, show up to defeat the Koopas! Personally, I think it's stupid, as I think prophecies are just false constructs designed to gain power over others, and that self-determined destiny is what makes events happen. That's why I was trying to keep you and Luigi on the journey."

"Wow... Peach... That was really profound." Mo blinked in amazement.

"Thank you," Peach nodded. "It was rough, but I hope you take my words to heart."

Mario personally looked and felt blown away. "Gee, I never thought about it that way before." he then said to her.

"I bet you haven't." Peach nodded firmly.

"I guess we're not so different after all..." Mario remarked.

"Nope," Peach smiled sadly. "I trust you to do the right thing though in the end, Mario. I believe in you."

"Well, uh, thank you." Mario replied softly.

"You're welcome." Peach nodded her head before she then leaned over to try to kiss Mario, but he just put his hand up.

"We gotta get goin'." Mario told her.

"Oh... Okay." Peach nodded.

Cherry smirked as she watched the two in secret. Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bush. Mario approached it, but the figure scurried out: it was the hooded beggar from the beginning!

Mario grabbed the beggar, pulling his hood off, and revealing it was Natlow! "YOU?! You've been following us--" he sputtered.

"Yes," said Natlow. "And I'll have my wand, please."

"Izzat ALL you care about?! Your wand?! TAKE YOUR LOUSY WAND!" Mario spat, slamming the item into Natlow's hand. "It cost me my brother."

"Mario..." Peach pouted.

"Well, he's kinda right," Cherry glared. "I also lost a good friend of mine!"

"...Maybe I was wrong about you." Natlow said softly as he collected his wand back.

"Damn right! And I got a score settle with that Koopa, Bowser, whatever the hell he's called!" Mario snapped. "So you gonna help me or just stand there stroking your thing."

Patch looked wide-eyed as he looked over to the fourth wall before kissing his paw to the readers. "G'night, everybody!" he then quoted.

Natlow soon aimed his wand at a tree. A magical bolt soon shot out from the wand, splitting the tree in half, leaving Mario jaw-dropped.

"So it does work." Atticus smiled.

"Of course it does," Natlow nodded. "To Bowser's castle."

"Yeah, let's kick some ass." Mario added in agreement.

"I probably missed the opportunity, but... MUST BE A BOBSHEAUX!" Lionel added as storm clouds formed overhead.

Lightning began to streak through the sky, and thunder boomed.

"Storm comin' in... We better take cover." Mario informed them.

Natlow gazed at the sky. "How perceptive of you, but I have nothing to fear." he remarked smugly.

Lightning soon struck to the ground, startling Mario and the others while Natlow looked as brave as he could.

"Well, we do!" Cherry told Natlow. "I suggest you get down!"

"Don't gotta tell us twice." Atticus replied.

"I am Natlow! And my magic protects me!" Natlow proclaimed as he raised his wand up to the sky.

A lightning bolt then suddenly struck Natlow's wand, incinerating it and thunder rumbled as quick as it started and the wind died out.

"I don't like the looks of that." Patch gulped as Natlow didn't look so good.

"Natlow? Yo, Natlow..." Mario called cautiously and nervously to the wizard, but when the heavy-set plumber approached, all that remained of Natlow apart from his wand was a pile of smoking ashes. "He's toast..." he then remarked.

Peach suddenly broke down in a fit of tears at her father's apparent demise.

"Oh, Peach, we're so sorry." Cherry said softly.

Peach cupped her face and shook her head as she just broke down crying.

"Oh, pl-please, don't cry..." Mario said, feeling nervous since she was going into a deep depression.

"...I know he was a lousy father..." Peach sobbed. "...But he was a decent king. He put all those people in danger to save me! We'd known the Toads since I was a kid, so when Bowser took over, he had us hide out in the countryside so he could raise me to be future ruler!"

Mario's sympathetic edge disappeared, replaced with anger. "...So you mean this is all because of _you_?!"

"It's complicated, okay?" Peach pouted in defense.

" **IF IT WASN'T FOR YOUR COWARDICE, I WOULDN'T BE IN THIS MESS, AND I'D STILL HAVE MY BROTHER!!** " Mario shouted. "I don't need your help anymore... You've done plenty." And he stormed off, infuriated.


	6. Chapter 6

Cherry and the others began to look glum.

"What do we do now?" Atticus frowned.

"I... I don't know..." Cherry said as she looked like she was trying not to cry. "I think we're all sunk."

"Wrong, NOW you're sunk!" Bowser declared as he emerged with several Koopa Troopas at his disposal.

"But how did you find us?" asked Lionel as he and the others took defensive stances.

"Your little friend was happy to tell me, but we dropped her off somewhere." Koopa declared. "You see, back when I first invaded, I made a series of deliberate goof-ups to make Henry think I was incompetent, which included stranding our own equipment on the wrong side of the river when we retreated! It took a while to trick King Henry into believing I was stupid...and when he let his guard down, _that_ was when I let our full fury come forth. That way, when King Henry decided to trick me into thinking Toadette was Princess Elizabeth, I knew when to start looking for her, and contemplate what to do next. When I kidnapped Toadette, I continued to play along with everyone's belief that I was as stupid as Henry thought! Now that Toadette, who I knew wasn't the real Princess, was kidnapped, I continued acting like I thought Toadette was the Princess. Then after she was drugged, I had her interrogated on everything she knew. See, I knew that the real Elizabeth would probably be part of the party going to rescue Toadette. Furthermore, it was simple to deduce her identity: I compared an amateur snapshot of her during the journey to one of her as a child."

"Hey, no fair!" Yoshi exclaimed.

"It's not fair, it's elementary," Bowser replied. "So far, I'd say my only mistake was overestimating how many people he'd send. Instead of his entire army's might, he sent a tomato-colored simpleton, a bunch of stupid children, a miserable mongrel and a weak lizard. Just pathetic!"

Patch began to growl and snarl protectively as he glared at Bowser.

"You take that back!" Atticus snapped.

"Why?" Bowser smirked. "Or else you'll sing a pathetic song about the power and importance of friendship?"

"Don't tempt us," Mo glared. "You don't know what we can do."

"I don't know, sure, but here's a little secret..." Bowser said, leaning in. "I! DON'T! **CAAAAAAARE!!!** " he cackled, as Mo was knocked over by the force of his shouting.

"BOGUS!" Yoshi shouted as the Koopa Troopas surrounded Peach and took her away.

"Oh, and you can have this back," Bowser said, tossing Daisy over the side. "The Princess of Sarasaland, Fungaria's neighbor country!"

"DAISY!" The group cried out.

Atticus glared as he made an energy ball in his hands for knocking down Mo like that and soon hit Bowser with it.

"Argh!" Bowser yelped as that hit him before he glared back towards Atticus.

"That's for Mo," Atticus narrowed his eyes before checking on his girlfriend. "You okay, Mo?" he then asked.

"Y-Yeah... I think so..." Mo groaned a bit as she rubbed her head.

Cherry soon brought out a rope and tied it to a rock and she tied the other half around her body as she began to go down to go down and at least try to save Daisy with her own magic while there was still time since Mario was likely long gone at this point. Luckily she managed to catch her, and Yoshi caught them both on his back.

"'You don't know what we can do'?" Lionel asked. "If we've resorted to using Toonyverse catchphrases, then we really ARE fucked."

"It seemed like the appropriate thing to do at this time," Mo defended with a shrug. "Show Bowser what we're made of and whatnot."

"Ohh... I guess that makes sense..." Lionel replied. "...As long as you don't spam it from adventure-to-adventure whenever we meet new people."

"I won't," Mo reassured. "We might bring it up again, but probably not used once an adventure."

"Yeah, like Atticus's abandoned catchphrase: 'It looks like we're in for another new adventure'," Cherry memorized as she began to come back over to the others. "Kinda reminds me of Fred Jones's old catchphrase of 'Gang, it looks like we have another mystery on our hands'."

"Cherry! You okay?" Atticus called out to his good friend.

"I'm comin'! Don't worry!" Cherry replied. "We are gonna show this Big Stupid Lizard what we're made of and hopefully get Mario back and make it back home in time for dinner... Or at least before curfew. Whichever comes first as long as Donald doesn't blow a fuse at us for being gone so long, leaving the kids alone back home."

"Well, whatever's happening, we better go find Luigi," said Daisy. "Maybe we can make sure he's okay."

"Well said, Dais," Cherry replied. "Let's get finding, no matter what old Lizard Breath says."

Atticus smiled proudly.

"...Shut up." Cherry glared at him.

"I'm just so proud of you." Atticus smiled.

"...Thanks, I guess." Cherry shrugged.

"You two really seem interesting." Daisy remarked.

"Well, they're a lot like siblings." Lionel replied.

* * *

**_MEANWHILE..._ **

Thor, Toad, and Luigi were still making their way through the underground.

"I feel something..." Thor said as he suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Toad asked.

They all then suddenly felt a rumbling.

"That." Thor then said.

"Earthquake!" Luigi cried out.

The rumbling and shaking soon increased until Toad realized what it was.

"Molequake!" Toad cried out.

"Molequake?" Thor blinked. "I spent my whole life in The Other Realm, but I have never heard of a--"

Suddenly, the huge head of an albino mole burst through the tunnel wall right behind them.

"Oh! That must be the molequake!" Thor then said with a frightened yelp.

And so the trio took off at light-speed down the mole-hole, with the Monty Mole right behind them. However, they ran into a dead end, with the Mole getting closer. Luigi pulled out the swiss army knife, but he didn't notice the bean from earlier falling out of his pocket.

"Yeah, _that_ should scare him..." Toad remarked, sarcastic.

Just as the Monty Mole burst in, jaws bared, a massive beanstalk shot out of the ground, carrying the three out of the tunnels and up to safety.

"Huh... Well, whatya know?" Thor blinked. "That's the second biggest beanstalk I've ever seen."

"Guys!" Toad called out then.

Luigi and Thor shared a look with each other and soon grabbed the beanstalk and got carried away with it as Toad was taken first. They were taken higher and higher and safe from becoming mole meat luckily enough.

"Ground floor, everybody off." Luigi soon said once they made it away from the mole and into safety.

"Alive!" Toad exclaimed. "I'm alive!" And he immediately began kissing the ground in excitement.

"You comin'?" Luigi asked the both of them. "I gotta find a brother and save a princess."

Toad shrugged. "Anything to liven up the day."

And on that note, they set off.

"Not to mention, I gotta get back together with my friends." Thor then said.

"Yes, yes, of course." Luigi nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mario made it up to the top of a hill and soon looked down below to the valley and found a certain castle there in the valley. "Must be Bowser's castle." he remarked to himself.

The castle shimmered oddly in the light as Mario began to make his way over to the castle, hiding behind some trees so that he wouldn't get caught as he felt that he was almost at the end of his brand new adventure.

"Help! Help me!" called Daisy's voice.

"Okay, Luigi; this one's for you." Mario declared as he headed to the castle's entrance, while Luigi, Thor, and Toad watched from afar.

"Wait, why isn't he with the others?" asked Thor.

"Maybe your friends just forgot about us," Toad shrugged. "Or they just ditched us."

"No, they wouldn't do that, especially Atticus." Thor shook his head.

"MARIO!" Luigi soon called out.

"He's too far away." Toad remarked.

Thor frowned before he went with Luigi and Toad to set off to the castle as quickly as possible.

* * *

Mario soon came over to the huge castle doors and pushed them open and the inside was eerily and suspiciously deserted. "Maybe it's a holiday. National Reptile Week..." he then shrugged at himself.

"I'm in here!" Daisy's voice called out and she was soon shown to be chained up to the wall. "Help me! Mario!"

Mario ran over and began to undo the chains. "Where's Koopa?" he asked.

"Quick! Before he gets back!" Daisy replied.

Two guards came in, carrying heavy lances.

"We gotta run!" Mario said, turning back towards Daisy...

...Only to find Kamek in his grasp. "Sorry Mario, but your princess is in another castle!" he grinned evilly.

The guards soon approached Mario and he hoisted a chair to defend himself with before it suddenly dematerialized, leaving the red-clad plumber defenseless. Spears were pointed to him as he backed up against the wall which soon dematerialized next.

* * *

Toad, Luigi, and Thor only watched on as the castle started to disappear as Mario was surrounded by guards and a laughing Kamek.

"It was a trick!" Toad gasped.

"Yeah... And they've got Mario!" Luigi added.

"What do we do now?" Thor frowned as he looked worried.

"Hang on... I'll think of something..." Luigi replied thoughtfully.

"Take him to the castle and throw him someplace... Painful." Kamek demanded before he soon took off to another castle.

The guards then prodded Mario forward with their spears.

"Easy! Easy! _You_ try walkin' with these things!" Mario complained.

As Mario and the guards walked along a tree-lined path, Luigi swung out on a vine at them, bellowing a war cry. Unfortunately, he missed and slammed into a tree in the other side of the path.

"Luigi! You're alive!" Mario exclaimed as Thor winced at Luigi's crash.

"Mostly, yeah." Thor said.

"Oh, you're here too." Mario said to Thor.

"Hi!" Thor grinned as he waved innocently.

Both guards soon went over to Luigi and Mario saw this as an opportunity and soon tripped one of the guards and taking that time and chance to take his heavy lance. The guards soon got together and rushed over only for Thor to grab them by their collars and clonked their heads together, knocking them both out, and grinned and crossed his arms at his victory. Mario then rushed over to his fallen brother.

"Come on, Toad, it's okay now." Thor soon told their tiny friend.

Toad then poked out of the bushes and came on out to join them.

"Luigi! Luigi!" Mario called as he then slapped his brother's face to make him come to.

"Mario... I was worried about you..." Luigi said softly once he came around.

"You were worried about _me_? I oughta KILL YOU!" Mario retorted firmly before he faced Toad and Thor. "He was worried about me... Ya see what I gotta put up with? Ya see?!"

"We have to go and find the others!" Toad exclaimed. "That way we'll be able to construct a plan."

"I hope that they're okay," Thor frowned. "I sure do miss 'em."

"Ah, there, there," Toad said softly, patting him on the back. "We'll find your friends."

"Gee, thanks, Toad," Thor smiled softly. "That means a lot comin' from you."

Toad gave a small smile back. And so, they soon took off and hoped to find Atticus, Cherry, Lionel, Mo, and Patch again.

* * *

Said group, meanwhile, was still back where they were, trying to figure out their next move, now that Peach had been captured. But so far, they weren't able to come up with much.

"And any second now, Atticus should be coming up with a plan." Cherry remarked to herself.

"I'm trying anyway." Atticus said with a small sigh.

"But from where we're standing, or sitting, we're not having much luck." Lionel remarked.

"We have to help Mario whether he wants our help or not." Atticus said as he slapped his fist into his open hand.

"Whoa! ...I hope you're not getting violent." Mo said to her boyfriend.

"Nah, just showing the intensity of the situation," Atticus replied. "Before Bowser does something terrible... Who knows if he'll stop in this kingdom? He might be able to cross worlds!" he then began to grow paranoid and panicky.

"Let me just remind you all that Atticus is not as perfect as he thinks he is even if he feels he needs to save the day more often than the rest of us." Cherry deadpanned to the fourth wall.

"Even if we have to keep hammering that fact into people's heads," Lionel added. "Some folks just don't get it, yak-yak-yak..."

"I still say we should go in after Mario to help out, even if he feels like he doesn't need us." Atticus said to the others.

"Sure, we could do that," said Lionel. "But one, he went away, not inside anywhere. And two, here they come."

"Oh?" Atticus asked before looking over.

"Well, this might be a little bit promising." Cherry said once they saw that they had company.

* * *

_**SEVERAL MINUTES LATER...** _

The group was now clad in the armor of the Yeelahs, while Daisy was dressed as a lounge singer.

"We're going in this way?" Toad asked as he and the others came to a 6-foot-tall pipe.

"WE are, but YOU'RE staying here!" Lionel replied.

"Ohh." Toad said in relief.

The others then began to smirk.

"What? And let you guys face Bowser alone?" Toad then asked, faking some bravado. "No, I'm going with you!"

Daisy looked over with a small shrug. "Well, if he really wants to..." she then said.

"Of course, I could stand guard here... Yeah." Toad quickly reversed his temperament.

"We'll be back, Toad." Luigi said to him then.

"Let's go, guys," Atticus replied. "We shouldn't waste too much time out here."

They soon went to start going into the pipe only to have more delay.

"Wait! There _is_ something I have to tell you!" Toad cried out suddenly. "The truth!"

The group soon stopped and went to hear what Toad had to say to them.

"The truth is... I'm a coward." Toad simply stated.

"...No, you're not." Luigi said with a small smile.

"You're braver than you believe." Atticus advised Toad.

And on that, the group went into the pipe.

* * *

**_SOON, AT KOOPA'S STAG PARTY..._ **

Bowser, Kamek, Mugger, Troopas, and Goombas were seated at the table. Wine flowed freely, musicians played, and the atmosphere was loud and bawdy, as Kamek tapped his glass with a spoon.

"Friends, cronies, mercenaries, and esteemed guest of honor!" Kamek announced. "It is customary, on the eve of a bridegroom's wedding, to have a party such as this, with much merriment and ribaldry!"

The cronies soon pounded at the table, hooting and hollering like a typical Bachelor Party.

"It is also a tradition, that on this night, the groom's dear and trusted friends 'roast' the guest of honor; playfully poking fun at his foibles and little idiosyncracies." Kamek continued.

The group soon went silent all of a sudden as Bowser soon shot daggers towards Kamek as that started to sound like not such a good idea even if it would be all in good fun.

"But we won't be doing that tonight!" Kamek then corrected himself nervously. "Heheh... So... On with the amusements!" he then sat down as he hoped that he wouldn't lose his head over this.

The music soon started up again. A veiled dancing girl soon came out and danced seductively in front of Bowser who began to leer at her, feeling aroused already. Under the main mall, the group soon made it in as they heard muffled music from the staf and wore helmets to cover their faces as Patch led the way since he had the strongest hearing out of all of them.

"Coast is clear," Luigi told the others. "C'mon!" He pushed up the grate, which led to an alcove in the main room.

"Here we go." Atticus said as he began to walk off with the others.

They soon came in through the grate and faced away from the curtain so that they wouldn't see the dancing girl and vice versa.

"More! I want more! Bring her to me!" Bowser demanded as he banged his chalice on the table, wanting an encore.

A Troopa pulled the curtains aside, revealing Mario, Luigi, Daisy, and the others in disguise.

"And who are you supposed to be?" asked Bowser. "Lemme guess; the fools?"

* * *

The group looked nervously at one another before Bowser burst out laughing, along with his sycophants.

"What a great way to demonstrate your troopers' ineptitude, eh, Mugger?" Bowser cackled, slapping Mugger on the back.

Mugger looked on, laughing dryly.

"Amuse me, fools!" Bowser demanded.

"Erm... What do you request, Mr. Koopa... Bowser... BowserKoopa? KoopaBowser?" Cherry asked before muttering to the others. "Man, scuff this dude's name..."

"A song!" Bowser demanded.

"...A song?" Mario asked.

"A SONG!" Bowser repeated with high insistence as he sat and waited to see what would happen next.

"Okay... Uh... Sure..." Cherry gulped sheepishly. "Brace yourselves! Uh... Little paisanos! For the greatest and best song you've ever heard in your lives!"

Mario motioned for Luigi to start, but then Luigi motioned to Mario. Finally, Luigi started tapping on his armor, getting a rhythm going. As did Mario.

"Koopa, you're sup-ah, a real reptile~" Lionel began.

"Of all the evil rulers, you beat 'em by a mile!~" added Daisy.

"That slimy green skin, really does me in~!" sang Mo.

"Your cruelty's my styyyyle~" Thor added.

"Oh, Koopa, you're sup-ah, A real reptile~" Everyone sang together, feeling a bit awkward.

Mugger eyed the group suspiciously while Bowser listened to the song mindlessly before he saw something weird in Luigi, seeing the green within his pant leg which began to make him even more suspicious and gave him an idea of what was going on.

"Koopa, he's sup-ah~" Cherry sang.

"So villainous and vile~" Bowser added.

"His lechery is a sight to see~" Luigi added. "And he'll slay you with his smile~"

"But if you resist, Your eu-lo-gist, Will be speaking in a while~" Atticus sang as he gestured for the others to come with him once he found the exit.

"Oh, Koopa, you're sup-ah, A real reptile!~" Mario and Luigi sang together as they made it over to the exit.

"You take yours and chuck it~" The girls began.

"We'll keep our slime bucket~" The boys added.

"Oh, Koopa, you're sup-ah, a reeeeeal reptiiiiile~" The group all sang together then, concluding the song.

The attendees all clapped and applauded, but Mugger motioned to two of his soldiers, who stood up.

"Mario, we were great!" Luigi beamed. "They loved us!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Mario. "We can sign autographs later! Let's get Elizabeth and scram!"

"Okay." Toadette nodded as she and the others headed off to find her.


	7. Chapter 7

**_LATER, IN A CASTLE HALLWAY..._ **

The group snuck around a corner, and up to Peach's door. After undoing the latch, they slipped inside.

"Peach? Elizabeth? Toadstool? Whatever your name is?" Cherry quietly called out as Mario and Luigi removed their helmets.

"Bowser, is that you?" A familiar voice replied. "Here to bring me more treats?"

"Uh..." Cherry slowly blinked as Mario and Luigi shared looks with each other.

"Elizabeth? It's me." said Mario as he moved forward, curious.

"Bowsie, you animal," Peach giggled. "You promised to keep your claws off me until after the nuptials. Okay, you can look, but you can't touch!" Out from behind the screen stepped Peach, but she looked grotesque! She was clad in a garish gown, with heavy make-up.

"WHOA!" The brothers yelped.

"Who got hit by an Avon truck?!" Mario exclaimed.

"I got it! I got it!" Toadette exclaimed as she ran up with the mushroom powder and threw some onto Peach's face.

"Of all the impu... Dent--" Peach began before she coughed, and her face returned to normal. "...Mario? Luigi?"

"Not just them, but we're here too." Cherry added.

"And me." Daisy spoke up.

Mugger and three Troopers soon rushed in to stop Mario, Luigi, and their friends from saving the day.

"Uh, guys?" Thor spoke up warily. "I'd hate to interrupt our little fun, but I think we have company."

But by the time the group looked behind them, they were surrounded completely by spear-holding Troopas. Afterwards, they were marched off to a prison cell. A fat, slobby prison guard, gnawing on a bone, unlocked the door, and the group was thrown into a dungeon of ice.

"Every evening it freezes, every morning it melts~" The guard exclaimed, almost singing with glee.

"What happens when it melts?" asked Lionel.

"Breakfast." The guard gave a cruel grin.

Most of the group gulped nervously as that didn't sound very good. With a snide chuckle, the guard soon slammed the door shut and locked it, walking off.

"Breakfast... I wonder what they're serving?" Luigi remarked.

The group then glanced down to see something moving and a deadly razorfish was soon shown as their glinting jaws hit up against the ice in a frenzy of hungry anticipation.

"I might not be the smartest kid out there, but I'm gonna guess that we're gonna be served." Thor said with a gulp.

"This is bad." Atticus said.

"And we left Toad all alone," Patch pouted. "I'd hate to imagine what he's going through right now without us."

* * *

**_AND SO..._ **

Hours passed.

"Mario, this may sound like a stupid question..." Luigi began.

"Odds are it will." Mario replied.

"When you got engaged to Brenda...how did you tell her you loved her?" Luigi asked.

"Jeez! What're ya bringin' _her_ up for?" asked Mario. "Don't I feel bad enough here? Maybe there's a couple of scabs somewhere on my body you can tear off!"

"Sorry," Luigi replied. "Just thinking about Daisy, is all. ...Since the first time I saw her in the flower shop, I wanted to tell her how I felt. But I waited, and now it's too late. I love ya, Mario."

Mario gave an exasperated sigh as if saying, 'big deal'.

"Even though it hasn't been easy." continued Luigi.

"Livin' with you ain't been no walk in the park either." Mario retorted.

"Mario... I wanted to leave you long ago." Luigi went on.

"You wanted to leave _me_?!" Mario asked, incredulous. "I woulda paid you to get out! I woulda bought you a first-class ticket!"

But Luigi wasn't done. "But before Mama died, she made me promise to take care of you."

"...What? What're you..." Mario started.

"She knew all you cared about was money and work," replied Luigi. "And if I didn't watch over you, you'd become bitter and hateful... And your heart would grow cold forever... Maybe I failed."

"Are we just gonna listen to--" Atticus spoke up.

"Shh!" The others shushed him as this seemed important.

"Okay. Okay." Atticus shrugged.

Mario just looked at his brother in stunned silence.

"Here," Luigi said, showing his Swiss Army Knife. "I'm giving this to you." he then added as he slid the knife across the ice.

Mario soon looked at the knife without picking it up before kicking it back over to Luigi. "I don't want it," he then said. "Papa didn't give it to me."

" _I'm_ giving it to you," Luigi insisted as he kicked the knife back again. "Don't be too _small_ to accept it."

Mario then glared at Luigi before he snatched up the knife. "Okay, big deal. Lotta use it'll get outta me now." he then huffed and took the knife, shoving it down in his pocket.

"Well, at least they kinda sorta made up," Atticus remarked before sighing. "How are we gonna get out of here?"

"Alright, alright; I'll teleport us to safety," Lionel shrugged. "I didn't wanna do it earlier because I didn't want to upstage Luigi in the pit."

"Might as well," Cherry replied. "Otherwise, if you did it right away, this story would be way too short."

"Exactement!" Lionel agreed. "Now, hang on tight, get in close, and all that jazz!"

Thor soon jumped on over and hugged Cherry and Lionel.

"I don't think you need to hug us in order to teleport with us." Cherry said to Thor.

"You looked like you could use a hug." Thor smiled before putting them back down.

Everyone else then shrugged and soon joined together with Lionel to get up and out of here and fast! Lionel concentrated before a bright blue glow surrounded them and they were teleported away. The fanged fish looked very grumpy and disappointed that their meals got away. There was a spark of light shimmering around and there was another glow as Lionel and the others ended up somewhere else and well far out of harm's way.

* * *

In the main hall, the Troopas rolled a red carpet down the center of the room towards the throne; however, except for Mouser, Tryclyde, and some Koopa Troopas, there were no guests in attendance. Kamek winced nervously, before ducking his head back inside. Bowser soon came in next, wearing his wedding outfit that was a traditional black tux with a cape.

As Kamek heard him enter, he suddenly jerked the curtain shut behind him, turning to face his superior who was doing some last-minute primping. "My Lord, y-you look magnificent!" he then gasped to Bowser.

"Of course I do, Kamek," Bowser nodded boastfully. "Now step aside, I want to see my loyal and adoring subjects who've come to my--" he then began as he whipped the curtain open to see the practically empty hall. "Where are they?!" he then suddenly whirled over to Kamek sharply. "You said you sent the invitations!"

"Yes, y-y-y-yes, I d-d-did, sir, but, uh, they c-c-called in sick..." Kamek stuttered, backing away nervously.

"All 3,000?!" Bowser replied.

"Well, sir, there's a very nasty bug going around and... And..." Kamek defended fearfully.

"They'll pay with their _heads_ for this!" Bowser snarled as he then swept through the curtains with Kamek trailing behind him.

"I-If I must say, sir, smaller ceremonies are much more intimate!" Kamek stated, trying to cheer him up.

* * *

**_LATER..._ **

Peach was now holding a bouquet of blackened twigs and thorns, standing next to Koopa.

"We are gathered here to witness a most duplicitous event... For as these two loving creatures become husband and wife, so too do they become our queen and... King."

Noticing Kamek had paused, Bowser made a "hurry up" gesture at him. The Crown of Invincibility was so close to being Bowser's and there was no sign of Mario, Luigi, or their new friends and it seemed too good to be true. Toad soon reunited with the group and they soon peeked down at the wedding in process as they met up and ended up on a side balcony.

"Do you, King Bowser/Lord Koopa, take this dainty flower to be your wedded wife?" Kamek began to ask. "To have and to scold and to lord over and--"

"I do! I DO! Get on with it!" Bowser rushed impatiently.

Mario soon spotted two chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and soon faced the others.

"Don't tell me you're thinking about jumping on those." Atticus said to Mario.

"Just hear me out," Mario replied. "I'll swing from one chandelier to the next, drop on Koopa, he's mine, then you guys swing down on this and grab Peach." he then began to explain as he then indicated the rope used to raise and lower the chandeliers.

The others gave him a look for that.

"I'm tellin' ya, it'll work!" Mario insisted to them.

"I smell trouble." Patch commented.

Standing up, Mario leapt off and grabbed the rim of the chandelier; but it broke off, and he fell. " **CHEAP CHANDELIIIIIIIEEEEEEEERRRRRR...!** " Mario yelled, as he landed on top of a squadron of Troopas. Shaking off his fall, Mario grabbed a lance, and whacked two other Troopas with it.

"Well, that's one way to use a chandelier." Atticus shrugged at himself.

Mario soon grabbed a lance and suddenly beaned the two Troopas while he had the chance. Toad then saw two Goombas about to attack from behind and decided to throw caution to the wind and leapt off the balcony to on top of them.

"Well, we're not gonna make much progress by just standing around here," Cherry said to her friends. "Let's go and help out Mario."

"Yeah!" the group declared as they lunged into action to fight off the Goombas and Troopas.

Bowser turned to Kamek during the commotion. "Finish it!" he ordered.

"And do you, Princess, take Lord Koopa to be your husband and king?" asked Kamek.

Peach looked down, feeling bad, but she knew that Koopa would kill her friends if she didn't marry him. "...I do." she sighed.

"Then place the Crown of Invincibility on his head and transfer the power!" Kamek declared.

As Peach picked it up, Koopa knelt down, ready for his grand moment.

"Wait!" Mario declared. "Hold it!"

"Mario!" Peach exclaimed, delighted as she ran over and embraced him.

"I'm sorry about earlier, Elizabeth." Mario told her.

"Mario? Just call me Peach, okay?" Peach asked. "I was never gonna marry that big lizard. I knew you'd come back in the nick of time."

Koopa picked up the crown and plopped it onto his head. A charge of blue electricity shot through his body, filling him with power. "I'm afraid you're too late on the rescue attempts, Plumber!" he cackled. "Lord Bowser? More like... **KING KOOPA!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!** "

"King of the Fools is more like it." Cherry snarked.

Koopa sharply turned to her and snarled right in her face.

"Ooh, I'm shaking." Cherry smirked.

"Are you stupid or something?" Toad asked. "In case you haven't noticed, HE'S A ZILLION TIMES STRONGER!"

"The little salad topping is right!" Bowser grinned. "I think a demonstration of my power is in order!" He extended a finger and created a bolt of energy, which he fired at Cherry.

Lionel leapt into the path of the blast, which burned off his left arm: first the skin, then the innards, then the bone, and then it was gone. "Well, how about that?" Lionel remarked, calmly, before screaming in pure agony. " **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!** "

"SEE?!" Toad told Cherry.

"I was gonna be fine either way," Cherry replied before she waved her hands and suddenly she was inside of a bubble. "See? Protective bubble."

"Oh, sure, go hide away in a bubble and get yourself killed." Toad narrowed his eyes.

"Make fun all you want, I'm gonna stomp some Goombas." Cherry smirked before rolling in her bubble like a hamster ball and began to bowl over some of Bowser's minions suddenly.

"Oh, almost forgot!" Bowser remarked as he fired a blast at the bubble.

"Uh, hello? Pro-tec-tive bubble!~" Cherry retorted, not taking this seriously at all.

"I know: that's why I'm burning the bubble away!" Bowser sneered as his energy blast burrowed through the bubble, causing Cherry to roll a few feet before coming to a halt two inches from the wall.

"Okay... Whatever you guys have planned... I'm all ears..." Cherry grunted and coughed.

The Goombas soon surrounded her.

"Heh... You guys didn't take it well with how I'd jump on your heads, huh?" Cherry asked bashfully. "No hard feelings...?"

The Goombas growled at her, angry, while Luigi threw some mushroom powder in Koopa's face. 

"I remembered you were allergic." Luigi said proudly.

Sniffing spasmodically, Bowser began to sneeze like crazy, launching fireball after fireball as the Goombas and Troopas ran for it, and the group ran for it as well.

"Escape from _me_?!" Bowser snapped. "Try to run when your legs are STONE!"

Warming up a pair of red energy balls, he shot his hand out, firing a pair of blasts. The first one hit Lionel in the back end, but the other came after the group like a missile.

"LOOK OUT!" Luigi shouted as he tackled Mario and Peach out of the way, getting hit by the second blast.

Atticus and the others then dove in through the dungeon suddenly.

"Ooh! Luigi!" Patch frowned as he knew that that had to have hurt.

Luigi soon staggered down the steps of the dungeon staircase as he had a hard time making it down.

"He's turning into stone!" Daisy realized once she saw what was happening.

"Oh, no!" Peach gasped.

"Mario... I can't move..." Luigi weakly told his brother. "Leave me... Take Daisy..."

"What're you talking about? Brothers don't leave brothers." Mario insisted as Luigi was nearly turned all to stone, except for his head.

"I... Thought I was a rock in your shoe..." Luigi said, surprised at his brother's words.

"Yeah... You're gettin' to be a big rock." Mario replied as he then picked up Luigi, stumbling a bit.

"Here, let me get that for you." Atticus offered.

"No, thanks," Mario insisted. "I've been carrying Luigi all of my life. This is the least that I can do."

"My brother loves me." Luigi smiled, sounding emotional.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but don't let it get to your head!" Mario retorted.

"That's not the only thing that's going to one's head!" Lionel remarked, getting into a gargoyle-esque stance as the statue spell spread over his legs.

By now, the spell was covering Luigi's head. "Mario... Remember... The fisherman... And the genie...!" he said, as the spell covered his lips, turning him completely to stone.

"And it looks like I'm good as next!" Lionel remarked.

"Can't you just use your magic to undo it?" asked Patch.

"That was the _first_ thing I tried!" Lionel replied as it came up his torso. "It didn't work!"

"Lionel, NO!" Cherry cried out. "You can't be!"

Atticus soon decided to try to use his Wiccan magic while Patch used familiar magic to help save Lionel and Luigi as things started to look bad.

"You're gonna be okay, buddy, it's gonna be okay... Please be okay," Thor frowned as he tried to stay positive and hopeful. "Dammit, I can't let you go, no, not like _this_!"

"I may as well pick out a pose because I'm good as toast!" Lionel replied as the stone covered his arms. "And you'd better run, because here comes trouble!"

Mugger and some Troopas burst into the dungeon, coming after the group. 

"AFTER THEM!" Mugger roared.

"Come on, Cherry, we gotta go." Mo told the perky goth.

"I... I can't leave Lionel though!" Cherry replied.

"We'll help him and Luigi later, I promise," Mo reassured. "We gotta move."

"...Okay," Cherry said softly before she gave Lionel a quick hug. "I'm so sorry about this."

"...It happens," Lionel replied as the spell got up his neck. "Now go, quickly!"

Cherry inhaled, her eyes wet, and ran off as Mugger came after the group, while Lionel's head finally turned to stone. Suddenly, two Chain Chomps burst from the darkness, nearly chomping at Daisy, who backed off while they growled. There were running footsteps of the Troopas coming from the other side, making the situation much worse.

"Oh, come on!" Atticus complained.

"We're trapped!" Toad panicked.

Daisy surveyed the situation until she was then suddenly hit with an idea. She soon jumped forward within the reach of the two Chomps, intending on for them to come at her.

"Is she crazy?!" Mo cried out.

"Shh! Just watch!" Thor shushed. "I'm sure she's much smarter than that."

Daisy soon jumped up at the right time, making two of the Chomps coming her way to suddenly miss before they could strike her.

"Whattya doin'?" Mario asked Daisy.

The chomps then struck again as she jumped up and they barely missed her. She then landed as then suddenly, the two chomps had their teeth linked together like antlers from sparring stags.

"Heh, not bad," Cherry smirked as that was really clever. "Now it looks like Bambi against Ronno."

"Roto-discs!" Mugger shouted.

The Troopas reached into their shells, pulling out circular saw discs and throwing them like frisbees. Thinking fast, Mario moved the stone Luigi in front of each disk to block them all.

"I sure hope that doesn't hurt him." Thor commented.

The discs were reflected back from hitting Luigi's stone statue as Mario moved him back and forth.

"So far so good." Atticus nodded as Luigi being used as a shield was working out so far.

Once they had the chance, Mario soon picked up Luigi and brought him down to the other way and made it over to the spillway as the Troopas splashed down the passage toward them.

"Uh-oh... Now what?" Patch wondered.

"Guys, this might sound awkward, but we need to ride on Luigi and Lionel." Atticus suggested.

"Uh... Ride on Luigi and Lionel?" Cherry asked. "Did you just hit your head or something?"

"Yeah, we'll ride 'em down!" Mario then added. "Come on!"

The others shrugged at each other and soon went to take Lionel and Luigi to ride on down the spillway like on a logboat ride.

Mugger looked down the spillway. "They're headed to the river of fire!" he motioned, and his Troopas followed him back the way they came.

* * *

Back with Mario and the others, they rode down the spillway, and shot from the opening, finally stopping where Luigi's legs hung over a cliff where the spillway dropped off a waterfall, into the boiling bubbling river of lava below!

"This is getting worse." Patch whined as he hid his face behind his front paws.

Luigi's and Lionel's figures soon began to teeter for a second, about to tip over into the lava and Toad seemed like it was about to go down with Luigi's figure. Mario and Atticus soon pushed themselves back while trying to avoid falling into the lava as this was getting very intense and serious.

"Look!" Daisy and Peach both piped up and pointed out once they saw something.

There was a rickety rope-and-slat suspension bridge that was over the river of lava.

"Good find, girls." Atticus smiled in relief to the two.

As they made their way down, the Troopers made their way down the winding steps.

"Why walk, when you have the power to--" Bowser grinned, as he levitated into the air at the center of the tower. "...Fly? Going down!" With a flick of his wrist, he shot downward like a rocket.

Luigi and Lionel's bodies were guided along by Mario and Cherry as they flowed through the lava river, trying to get by without get singed or burned by the lava. The wooden slats began to creak and strain before a slat then suddenly broke.

Mario's foot then suddenly went through the broken slat as he teetered with his brother. "Luigi, after this, you're goin' on a diet," he then remarked as he regained his balance, going across the slat. "Remember, don't--"

"Don't say it, let's just keep going before I end up doing whatever you're thinking." Cherry replied firmly.

"Noted." Mario gulped from her aggressive tone.

Toad, Daisy, Peach, Mo, Atticus, Patch, and Thor soon followed after, just as carefully and quickly as possible.

"We're almost there, you guys," Atticus said. "We can do it. You're doing great, Cherry."

"Easy for you to stay," Cherry replied. "I just hope my vertigo come back to bite me in the flank."

"Going somewhere?" asked Koopa as he entered, overlooking the river before them on a cliff overhead. "I don't think so!"

"CRUD!" The group yelped suddenly.

Koopa soon took a deep breath in and let out a tremendous gust of wind, knocking them down, causing the bridge to swing violently, almost tossing them off. Mario soon brought out the locket.

"The locket!" Atticus gasped. "Maybe that can help!"

"That's what I'm hoping for!" Mario replied as he palmed the locket. "Open, will ya?! Tell me how to beat this guy!"

The locket then suddenly open as the wind died down and the bridge steadied.

"Did it work?" Mo wondered.

"I hope so." Thor replied.

A white ball of light soon came out of the locket and a familiar face soon appeared in it.

"No way..." Atticus whispered in amazement.

"Whaddyou want?" asked Natlow.

"Whaddya _mean_ whaddo I want?" Mario snapped. "You said the secret to beatin' Koopa is in the locket!"

"I lied." replied Natlow.

"YOU _LIED_?!" Mario sputtered. "GREAT TIME TO TELL ME!!"

"Oh, wow." Atticus glared.

"Why, Natlow, why?!" Patch asked.

"I have my reasons," Natlow replied. "Lemme explain... The power is not within the locket. It is within you."

"...How cheesy." Cherry muttered.

"It's within you too." Natlow told the group.

"The real magic comes from within." Thor smiled hopefully.

"Sure..." Natlow shrugged.

Mario began to ponder that as the bright white light soon turned into a luminescent butterfly and suddenly fluttered away. Mugger, Kamek, and the rest of the Koopa Troopas soon arrived next to their boss. Mugger signaled the other Troopas to go after Mario and the others only to be stopped.

"I'll deal with this... Personally~..." Koopa grinned at them as he began to relish the opportunity to show his powers.

Mario directed Toad and the others to take the statues. "Drag 'em to the other side, quick!" he said.

"Ya can't beat him," said Toad. "He's invincible."

"Ain't you a real confidence-builder?" Mario remarked sarcastically. "Get 'em outta here."

* * *

The others soon began to help out with the statues while they still had the chance. Koopa soon walked imperially to the start of the bridge. Mario soon came back to the center of the bridge, facing the big bad of the story.

"Make linguini outta him." Cherry told Mario with narrowed eyes.

"He might need some help." Atticus replied.

"You're right," Cherry said. "...I'll do whatever I can to help out if he needs it."

"You humans..." Bowser sneered, his voice coming from behind. Mario swirled around to see there was another Bowser behind him! "...Are so pitiful!"

Now there were two Bowsers!

"So easily fooled." remarked the both of them.

"Am I the real king?" asked the first.

"Or am I?" asked the other.

"Beats me, but it oughta be illegal to copy a face that ugly!" Mario remarked.

"Oohhh!" The others called out.

Flashing with anger, the Bowser soon threw fireballs from their hands from both ends. Mario soon luckily ducked from the fireballs and one of the Bowsers was hit by the fireballs from the other side. The Bowser that was hit soon dissolved suddenly. The other fireball then passed through harmlessly to the other Bowser as Mario was left in the middle.

Mario grinned at Bowser as he raised up while pocketing the knife, having won that round. "Whoooo... Nice parlor tricks, but how 'bout you and me settling this, mano y mano?" he then quipped as he put up his fists.

"As you wish." Bowser replied before suddenly, his left arm elongated about 10 feet, grabbing Mario by the throat and brought him face-to-face with a dark grin. "It's all in the wrist~" he then hit Mario with a tremendous uppercut, sending him 50 feet back skyward.

Mario fell, only just managing to grab the bottom support rope of the bridge. 

Toad ran over to help, but Koopa knocked him back with an energy bolt. "Now die, little man!" he boomed.

Mario looked up, a glare in his eyes. "WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?!"

"Uh-oh..." Cherry smirked.

"I don't think that was the right thing to say." Atticus also smirked.

Bowser seemed to hesitate in answering Mario's question.

"LITTLE man?!" Mario sneered. "I've a mind to come up there and kick your scaly butt!"

Bowser just chuckled before glaring at Atticus and Cherry. "What're you punks smirking at?"

"Nuthin' much." Atticus and Cherry smirked innocently.

"You think that crown makes you big?" Mario soon continued. "Hey, I admit, I got a problem about my height; I'm a little touchy about it, but I know I'm bigger than you'll _ever_ be."

"I'll show you big!" Bowser just chuckled darkly as he soon grew larger to around eight feet tall, but the crown on his head hadn't grown so it looked very small compared to him as the slats began to creak under his added weight. "Impressed?"

"Frankly? No," Mario replied. "If I had that crown, I'd make myself huge."

Angrier now, Koopa made himself 12 feet tall, and the slats creaked a bit more.

"Your Majesty! It's a trick!" Kamek called.

"I know that, you imbecile!" Bowser snapped, levitating himself into the air. "Thought you could outwit me?"

"No, never," Mario remarked. "By the way, your shoe's untied."

Koopa looked down, and the crown slipped off his head, then he shrunk back to normal height, and he fell through the slats, grabbing the end of the rope. "Help me! Help me!" he called.

"Save him!" Kamek shouted at the Troopas, but Mugger stopped them.

"No! Let him be." Mugger said, as Kamek looked on, sadly.

Koopa began to pull himself up, and Mario got out his knife and he began sawing through the ropes.

"This is getting intense." Thor said.

"Yeah." Atticus nodded.

"Always the conversationalist." Thor rolled his eyes.

Koopa saw what Mario was doing and soon started climbing faster towards Mario who continued to frantically saw at the thick rope. Luckily for Mario then, Koopa was inches away from reaching him just as the rope was severed and suddenly, the villain began plunging screaming into the river of lava.

"Oof..." Cherry winced only slightly. "That's a bit gruesome... Not saying he didn't deserve it, but still."

"I guess that's the end of Bowser Koopa." Patch commented.

But suddenly, the lava began to bubble, as out of it emerged Bowser's massive, fiery, wraith-like head! His mouth opened, shooting flames.

"Hey, Bowser!" Mario yelled. "Stick a fork in it!"

Koopa looked at him, confused.

"You're done," Mario remarked. "Game over."

Firing one last skyward burst of lava, Koopa's massive head roared as it sank into the lava, gone forever.

Mugger put his arms up. "Bowser has fallen! At last we are free!" he declared.

The Troopas cheered, and Mugger looked at Kamek.

"Ah, well; his parents were bad at raising him, and I didn't do much better either." Kamek sighed.

"He did it! He did it!" Toad whooped.

* * *

In an instant, Luigi's stone exterior cracked and gave way, revealing his normal self underneath. Lionel's eyes glowed as the stone began to crack, before he let out a roar of triumph, as he burst free from the statue.

"Lionel... You okay?" Cherry asked as she patted him a bit. "Is that you?"

"In the flesh." Lionel smiled, feeling grateful to be surrounded by his friends.

"Luigi," Daisy smiled as she came beside the young man before kissing him. "How ya feelin'?"

Luigi raised his arm, bending it a little as the stone shell fell down. "A little stiff." he then said.

"Good to know." Atticus replied.

"Yeah." Patch nodded.

The luminescent butterfly soon flew back over and landed on a rock as Natlow soon materialized. "Well done, Mario," he then said with great approval. "You too... Cherry and friends."

"No thanks to you, Merlin." Mario snorted.

"Watch who you're talking to," said Natlow, before he turned himself into King Toadstool. "You're speaking to royalty, you know!"

"That's an interesting look." Mo commented.

The group soon fell into bows and curtsies before they quickly got back up once the moment had passed.

"Good to see you, Father." Peach smiled.

"Aww..." Atticus, Mo, Patch, and Thor marveled at the sight.

"That's nice, Peach," Daisy said to the blonde. "I'm happy for you."

"After 20 years of hiding in secret, and not shaving, I have been restored to the throne of our fair kingdom," announced the king. "And I owe it all to this band of brave warriors."

Toad beamed proudly as he knew that had included him.

"And because I have decided to take a new queen," King Toadstool continued as he nodded at the buxom barmaid who nodded at him. "And produce, er, many heirs to the throne, I have consented to let the princess return to the Outer World, where her true destiny lies."

Mario and Luigi looked happy for Peach and Daisy, as did Cherry and her friends as it was a lovely announcement and surprise for a strange new adventure in a strange new world with some new friends.

"Now let us bestow great tokens of our gratitude upon these heroes." King Toadstool continued as he reached down for something.

"Here it comes; the big pay-off." Mario whispered to Luigi and the others.

King Toadstool soon opened up a small chest and brought out tiny medals, pinning them each on the heroes in the Mushroom Kingdom as there was applause from the assemblage.

"Uh, lovely parting gift, your royal-ness," said Mario. "But where's the rest?"

"You were expecting cash?" asked King Toadstool.

"You said I'd be infinitely richer." replied Mario.

"You are," replied the king, tapping Mario where his heart was. "In HERE."

Mario rolled his eyes.

"Uh, thank you, sir." Mo smiled politely.

"Yeah. Thanks." Cherry and Thor added.

"At least you get to live happily ever after with your own princess?" Atticus smiled hopefully to Mario.

"Yeah, yeah." Mario shrugged.

"Look, I'm respectable!" Toad exclaimed. "I'm gonna go back to running my general store. After this spore of madness, I'll need some normality."

"Whatever suits you." Cherry said.

"Do you think I could qualify for village elder?" Toad asked then.

"Politics!" Mario snorted. "Perfect line of work for a thief."

"Really?" Patch asked.

"Gonna miss ya, Toad." Luigi said, shaking his head.

"Me too." Toad replied.

Toadette soon came beside him with a small smile.

"Yeah, ya little fungus," Mario said before patting the smaller being on his head. "Take care of yourself."

"Thank you for saving our kingdom, Mr. Mari... Um... Um..." stammered King Toadstool. "Sorry, your surname is just very hard to pronounce."

"Just call us the Mario Bros." Mario suggested.

"The Mario Bros?" Luigi groaned. "Well, that's just super."

"The _Super_ Mario Bros!" Thor proclaimed.

"Yeah... Sure." Mario shrugged at him.

Thor beamed in excitement from that possibility.

"Besides, we're the Mario Bros, and plumbing's our game," replied Mario.

Luigi beamed before he joined in. "We're not like the others who get all the fame!"

"If your sink is in trouble, you can call us on the double~" The both of them sang. "We're faster than the others, you'll be hooked on the Brothers!"

"Evil Koopa and his Troopas were up to misbehavin'~" continued Lionel. "They kidnapped the Princess; Mushroom Land needed savin'! Abusin' and confusin', everybody discovered, They can't help but be hooked on the brothers!~"

"Hooked on brothers?" Atticus asked that seemed to flow through with the song.

"Gimme gimme, gimme gimme!" Thor exclaimed suddenly.

"Yo, you're in for a treat, so hang on to your seat, Get ready for adventure and remarkable feats~," Mario and Luigi sang together. "You'll meet Koopa, the Troopas, the Princess, and the others, Hangin' with the plumbers, you'll be hooked on the brothers!, To the bridge!, Uh, uh! I said-a h-h-h-h-hooked on the brothers! The brothers! The brothers!~"

"Well, guys, I think that wraps up another nice new adventure together," Atticus said to the others. "Perhaps we should head back home."

"Sure, man," Lionel replied. "If the Marios can handle a creep like the Koopa, then Big Eddie shouldn't be much problem!"

"Hey, you're right," Mario agreed. "We don't gotta take that from him!"

"No, you don't!" Thor replied. "You're both strong and mighty! You took down Bowser, so you can get this guy!"

"YEAH!" Mario and Luigi nodded.

"Now go out there and show Big Eddie what you're made of!" Thor urged.

"YEAH!" Mario and Luigi exclaimed.

"Us too!" Daisy and Peach added.

Cherry and the others then began to look hopeful as things would start looking up for Mario and Luigi from now on after their final battle with Bowser/Koopa. A rainbow beam of light soon came out from a pipe from afar and suddenly, they were taken straight out of the Mushroom Kingdom and right back to where they had come from.


	8. Chapter 8

Cherry and her friends soon walked along to head back home after a big and long adventure of something they didn't even expect, but they were glad to have experienced it when they had the chance.

"Well, guys, I had no idea going on an adventure to help plumbers would be so interesting." Cherry said to the others.

"Well, clearly you didn't realize _which_ plumbers we'd be adventuring with," said Lionel. "But let's get home. I got me a serious hankering for some pasta!"

"You too, huh?" Thor replied. "I say we do it then."

"Let's go then." Atticus agreed.

And so, they had all of their stuff ready and headed back home while Mario and Luigi got settled back into their home in Brooklyn as things were going to be different for them from now on as The Super Mario Brothers Plumbers.

"ACE Plumbers!" Lionel pointed out as they headed back to Duckburg.

"Farewell, Mario and Luigi, until we meet again." Thor said as they took off.

The group nodded as they made it back home after a new adventure together, but with plenty more to come afterwards.

* * *

"Home again, home again." Mo sighed as they came back to Donald's neighborhood.

"Hopefully things weren't too hectic while we were away." Atticus stated.

"Like that would happen." Patch replied.

Thor cleared his throat a little bit.

"I'm not tempting fate, I'm just saying." Patch shrugged in defense.

"Just making sure..." Thor's eyes darted around. "You guys have a bad habit of doing that sometimes."

Atticus and Patch shared a look with each other and simply shrugged at each other as they went along before they made it over to the Duck residence.

"We're back!" Lionel called as they came inside. "So, how were things while we were out?"

"Oh, you know..." Webby replied.

"The usual." Huey, Dewey, and Louie added innocently.

"...We missed something interesting, didn't we?" Cherry asked suspiciously.

"What?! Psh! Naaaah..." Webby shrugged as she rolled her eyes. "What gave ya that idea?"

"Guys?" Cherry asked.

"All right, we might've done a little something crazy," Huey replied as he shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing big though... Just meeting some new people... Maybe having a video game adventure."

"You three always get into mischief," Cherry rolled her eyes playfully. "You're like the three little brothers I never longed for."

"Ah, you know you missed us." Louie smirked.

"Sure," Cherry replied. "Like a bad rash."

Louie rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'm gonna get settled," Cherry said as she went straight to her room to take a nap. "See ya later."

"Were they at least tolerable?" Atticus asked Donald.

"As tolerable as possible, I guess," Donald shrugged. "Boys will be boys after all."

"If you say so." Lionel replied as he went off to his room, carrying the mushroom he'd gotten from the Pit of No Return.

"Whatcha doin'?" Thor asked as he began to follow Lionel.

"I dunno, just reflecting, probably gonna sit on my bed, and look up at the ceiling," Lionel shrugged. "Normal college kid stuff."

"Yeah..." Thor said softly as he shuffled his foot. "I had a great time though. I'm glad I got to share this adventure with you guys."

"I'm glad too." Lionel replied, patting him on the shoulder.

Thor smiled before he stared off into the distance. "I'm still trying to figure out what to do with myself honestly," he then said with a small sigh. "I definitely don't wanna be Head of the Witch's Council like Uncle Drell... That job looks like a real pain in the butt."

"You could get into cooking," Lionel replied. "You like that, right? Plenty of folks do it for a living."

"Heh, yeah," Thor blushed bashfully. "I guess I am a pretty good cook... Maybe I'll even end up on the cover of this some day." he then added, taking out a magazine from a place called Marzipan City that had a blue man known as Chef Mung Daal who was receiving another award for his best catering.

"I can see that happening." Lionel tussled his hair.

Thor chuckled and beamed before he soon gave Lionel a tight hug. "Mm... Come here you~" he then gushed a bit.

Lionel blushed as Thor hugged him, patting his back.

"Who knows what else lies out there?" Thor smiled as he looked out the window with Lionel. "So many new adventures and experiences... We can explore them together."

"I'd like that." Lionel nodded.

"Me too, buddy," Thor smiled warmly as they looked at the moon together. "Me too."

"Glad to know we're on the same page." Lionel beamed as this adventure came to a close.

"Mm-hmm~" Thor beamed. "Well, I'm gonna go get something to eat and maybe for the rest of us. You want anything special tonight since we're back home?" he then offered.

"Pasta for sure." Lionel replied.

"Then pasta it is!" Thor beamed as he soon left the room and took off straight into the kitchen to cook some food up for all of them. "May the pasta be with you!"

Lionel waved to Thor as he put the mushroom on his shelf. "Thanks, buddy."

"No problem." Thor smiled.

Just like Mario and Luigi, things were going to look up from here on out, especially with the help of their newer friends. Only time would tell if they would meet each other again in the near future though, but they just hoped they would be able to live happily ever after with Peach and Daisy as things wrapped up nicely like they always do.

The End

...And until next time, readers...

**DO THE MARIO!**

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah... Bet you didn't see this storyline coming, did ya? This is actually based off a rejected script for the Super Mario Bros. movie that didn't makr it to the final cut (obvously), but this script will probably be better than what we got back in 1993 (which I consider to be a guilty pleasure of mine). Read & Review!


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